BJD to mobilise people from panchayats for Jan 17 ceremony at Jagannath temple

The temple corridor project 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

Updated on: Dec 30, 2023, 22:07:07 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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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 Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri. (File)

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.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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