Puri: The last Nepal king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, who is on a tour to the state, Sunday visited Srimandir here and performed special puja before Lord Jagannath.
The Nepal royals have been accorded a special status as per the traditions of the 12th century shrine. “I am extremely happy by paying obeisance to the Lord after a gap of 15 years. I prayed for world peace and strong Indo-Nepal ties,” said Dev. The king, along with a few officials, reached the south gate of Srimandir at 10.52 am. Collector Aravind Agarwal, senior officials of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and a few servitors welcomed him by presenting him Khandua Pata.
SJTA sources said Dev along with Gajapati king Dibyasingha Deb entered into the sanctum sanctorum around 11 am after offering puja to Lord Bata Ganesh and Goddess Batamangala. It is learnt that Dev climbed the Ratnasinghasan and offered marigold garlands to the presiding deities.
The Nepal king also offered fruits and shawls to Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra.
“Dev gifted a gold coin and three packets of coins to the deities. He offered three Holy Stones (Shalagram) in silver boxes to the Lord,” said an official of the SJTA.According to sources, Pujapanda servitors presented a citation, shawl and garlands to Dev at Beherana gate. The Nepal king left Srimandir at 12.15 pm after visiting the temple of several subsidiary deities. SJTA sources said Dev visited the temple treasury and had a look of the deities’ ornaments. He also enquired about the renovation of Srimandir Jagamohan. “The Gajapati king briefed Dev regarding the renovation of Jagamohan. The Nepal king donated a sum of `50, 001 to Srimandir,” said the official. Hundreds of servitors and common people gathered near Srimandir to witness the Nepal King’s visit to the shrine.
The SJTA closed the temple for three hours for public to facilitate Dev’s visit.
PNN
