Puri: Devotees from five districts – Ganjam, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack and Kendrapara – Monday had darshan of Srimandir deities and perambulation on the recently inaugurated Parikrama Prakalpa as part of an earlier plan of the state government. The district administration has made elaborate arrangements for devotees to have smooth darshan of the deities and seamless perambulation around the 12th century shrine. Monday was the first day when the devotees from some blocks of Ganjam, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack and Kendrapara were ferried in special buses to Puri.
Earlier, when the Parikrama Raths were rolling across the state for collecting fistful of raw rice and betel nuts for inauguration of Parikrama Prakalps, the state government had informed that devotees from all the districts will be taken to the Pilgrim City in buses and given the unique experience of perambulating around the Srimandir apart from having darshan of the deities.
Accordingly, the district administration has deployed adequate police personnel for smooth arrival and departure of devotees coming from distant places. The buses carrying the devotees reached the designated parking lot at Samang where they had their ablutions and breakfast before leaving for Jagannath Ballav Pilgrimage Centre through Sri Setu by feeder buses. The devotees walked on the Sri Marga and made rounds of the temple on Parikrama Marga. They also saw exhibitions on Srimandir and several adornments (Beshas) of the deities arranged by the district administration. Then they returned to Samang where they had lunch before returning to their destinations. The administration has made elaborate arrangements for arrival of 10,000 devotees in the Pilgrim City. Nodal officers have been engaged along with officials from Panchayati Raj department and district administration to ensure that devotees have smooth darshan of the deities. Puri Sub-Collector Bhabataran Sahu said, “Devotees from five districts have arrived here on day one and they have carried good memories from the visit to the Pilgrim City. They were happy to land here and seek blessings of Lord Jagannath.
All the arrangements are in place for smooth darshan. The process of arrival of devotees through buses will continue for one month.” Similarly, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief Ranjan Kumar Das said, “Devotees from all 30 districts of the state will visit Puri and enjoy the holy walk on Parikrama Marga. On the first day, devotees from some blocks of five districts had arrived here and had darshan of the deities apart from perambulating around the shrine on Parikrama Marg.” The process will continue until all the devotees would visit the shrine, the SJTA chief added. Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the Srimandir Parikrama Prakalpa January 17, 2024.
