While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) goes all out to make people across villages in the country participate in the consecretion ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, the Naveen Patnaik government has decided to follow suit during dedication of the Jagannath temple corridor project scheduled on January 17 by mobilising people from all the 314 panchayat samitis of the state to Puri for participation in the dedication ceremony.
The state cabinet headed by chief minister Patnaik, which met on Saturday evening, decided that ₹155 crore would be spent on mobilising people as well as IEC activities at gram panchayat and panchayat samitis. “The dedication ceremony of the Jagannath temple corridor project has been included as one of the initiative under the Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha scheme for infrastructure development in rural Odisha,” the Cabinet resolved.
The temple corridor project titled Shree Mandira Parikrama Project (SMPP) is development of the perimeter around the boundary of the Jagannath temple at a cost of ₹943 crore for making the shrine a modern-day pilgrim centre complete with all modern amenities including a queue management facility for 6,000 devotees, baggage screening facility, cloakroom for keeping belongings of nearly 4000 families, drinking water, toilet facilities, facilities for washing hands/feet, information-cum-donation kiosks, shelter pavilions for shade and rest, multi-level car parking, dedicated shuttle cum emergency lane for accommodating police, fire and emergency vehicles, an integrated command and control centre and souvenir shop among others.
The temple administration is inviting 857 temples in Odisha and 180 major temples outside the state including Vaishno Devi, Kamakhya Temple and Shirdi Sai temples for the three-day inauguration event. The government has prepared a guest list that includes several VIPs, corporate czars and celebrities.Hymns would be chanted amidst beating of drums round the clock.
{{/usCountry}}The temple administration is inviting 857 temples in Odisha and 180 major temples outside the state including Vaishno Devi, Kamakhya Temple and Shirdi Sai temples for the three-day inauguration event. The government has prepared a guest list that includes several VIPs, corporate czars and celebrities.Hymns would be chanted amidst beating of drums round the clock.
{{/usCountry}}People familiar with the matter in the BJD said the grand spectacle on January 17 is an effort to play a Hindutva card as well as be the sole flagbearer of ‘Jagannath culture’ and votary of Odia pride to stop the BJP on its tracks. While the Biju Janata Dal won 112 of the 147 seats in the state Assembly election in 2019, it could win 12 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats as the BJP managed to increase its tally to 8 MPs.