Bhubaneshwar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in his efforts to outsmart the BJP’s Ram Temple event will on Wednesday start the ritual events for Parikrama Prakalpa around the Puri Jagannath Temple.
The BJD government launched the project five years ago in what is called ‘the biggest infrastructure push involving the 12th-century shrine in 700 years.’
The Odisha event happening five days ahead of Ram Temple event is gathering momentum against backdrop of the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya which has garnered international attention.
In an ambitious push to match with Ram Temple, the BJD government reportedly splurged Rs 800 crore on a 75-metre free passage built around the outer walls (the Meghanada Pacheri) of the temple, according to The Indian Express.
The project, according to the government, aims to offering ‘a clear and unobstructed view of the 800-year-old shrine’.
Where the rituals in Ayodhay started on Tuesday, they have been underway in Puri since January 12.
A three-day ‘Maha Yajna’ began on Monday at all the four entrances of the temple emphasizes the religious fervor.
After Patnaik opening the project, Puri’s erstwhile royal Dibyasingha Deb will peform the “Poornahuti (culmination of Yajna)”.
The ceremony will see religious heads of around 1,000 temples in the country participating the event alongside even the Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal receiving the invite.
Naveen Patnaik, in similar fashion of BJP’s appeal, urged people to light diyas, recite bhajans and kirtans at the time of the event.
In order to make a huge public event, the Patnaik government has allocated Rs 150 crore for promotions in every panchayat.
The promotional events include officials collecting handful of rice and betel nut from every household.
A sponsor event planed by the government will bring around 10,000 people every day from the state’s every panachayat to see the project, according to the report.
The Odisha government has also announced a public holiday on Wednesday.