Before the Ayodhya Ram temple, the Naveen Patnaik government of Odisha has completed the Shri Mandir project in Puri.
Now a grand program is being organized in Puri 7 days before the Pran Pratistha in Ram Temple. The inauguration program of Jagannath Temple Corridor is being held between 15 to 17 January.
For this, invitations have been sent to more than 1000 temples including Char Dham. Invitations have also been sent to major Hindu temples around the world and the King of Nepal.
Rs 943 crore has been spent in the project. In view of the assembly elections to be held in Odisha next year, this program is being considered very important for the Patnaik government.
Between January 15 and 17, the Odisha government is going to inaugurate the corridor of the iconic Jagannath temple in Puri through a grand programme.
It was named Shri Mandir Parikrama Project which has been prepared at a cost of ₹943 crore. It has a green buffer zone of 7 meters and a pedestrian pedestrian zone of 10 meters, which will be used for circumambulating the temple.
Will be equipped with new facilities
The main objective of this project is to convert the corridor around the 12th century Jagannath temple into a modern pilgrimage site. There will now be standing space for 6,000 devotees at a time along this corridor.
Apart from this, many modern facilities including screening facility of their goods, cupboards to keep the goods of about 4,000 families, drinking water are included.
Toilet facilities, hand/foot washing facilities, sheltered pavilions for rest, hi-tech car parking, police and fire brigade and vehicles for emergency situations etc.
invitation to 1000 temples
Ranjan Kumar Das, chief administrator of the temple, says, “We are inviting 857 temples in Odisha. While 180 major Indian temples including Vaishno Devi, Kamakhya Temple and Shirdi Sai temples will also be invited for the three-day inauguration ceremony starting from January 15.
According to Hindu religion, four sacred Dhams and four other smaller Dhams will also be invited. We are also sending invitations to the King of Nepal, who has special rights in the Jagannath temple.
Invitations are also being sent to major Hindu temples in other countries. During the program, bhajans and kirtans will be performed 24 hours amidst drums.
Highlights of the program
The government has prepared a guest list which includes several VIPs, corporate bigwigs and celebrities. Das said the Lokarpan Yagya (ritual performed before the sacred fire) will begin on January 15 and will end on January 17. Vedas will be recited at the four gates of the temple.
Rigveda for the eastern gate, Yajurveda for the southern, Samaveda for the western and Atharvaveda for the northern have been finalised.”
The walls along the three kilometer long route connecting the main temple and the Mausima temple have artworks depicting all the major buildings of the country. Vacuum cleaning of the city will also be done during the three-day program.
Officials said almost all the main works of the project have been completed and the remaining works will be completed by the end of this year.
It is noteworthy that land acquisition for the project started in November 2019, in which more than 600 people living around the temple gave 15.64 acres of land for the project. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the project in November 2021.