Puri: A group of Hindu devotees from Pakistan Saturday visited Srimandir here and paid their obeisance to the deities, said a Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) official.
The group led by Ramesh Kumar, Rabi Das and Kishore Tulasi reached the Holy City Friday night and checked into a holiday home at the City Road, said the official.
Altogether 133 Hindu devotees from Pakistan including 50 women and 13 children reached India on a pilgrimage December 27 last year.
The devotees initially visited Mathura, Vrindavan and other religious places in Uttar Pradesh. They arrived here on the invitation of the Odisha International Centre.
SJTA sources said the devotees visited Srimandir Saturday afternoon. They entered the 12th century shrine through the Lions’ Gate.
“Lord Jagannath is the master of the universe. I had a desire to visit Jagannath temple at least once in my lifetime. Today, I got the opportunity to pay obeisance to the Lord. I prayed for the cordial relation between India and Pakistan,” said Kishore Tulasi, a devotee from the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Aditya, a devotee from the neighbouring country, said no religion professes violence. “India is a peace-loving country. We had heard about Lord Jagannath and his Rath Yatra. Today, we visited the majestic temple and paid our respect to the Lord,” he added.
However, the pilgrims refused to comment on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by Parliament. “We are on a pilgrimage to India. It is not proper on our part to comment on CAA or any other issues. We will leave for Haridwar after visiting a few other heritage structures in Puri,” said Sanjay, a devotee.
