Bhubaneswar, January 23: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will visit Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri on Tuesday and perform Shree Mandir Parikrama Marga Pradakhshina.
The development came after Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan targeted the Chief Minister for not visiting the 12th century shrine and offering prayers to the sibling deities on January 17 during Parikrama Prakalpa dedication event.
Notably, though the Chief Minister dedicated the project near the Jagannath temple did not visit the shrine to offer prayers to the deities thereby drawing flak from the opposition party leaders questioning his so-called devotion to Lord Jagannath.
According to sources, the Chief Minister will visit Puri in the afternoon for this. He will also visit the Shree Jagannath Ballabha Piligrim Center to witness the 25 rare Beshas (attires) of Lord Jagannath that are on display in an exhibition. The exhibition showcases the different Beshas of the Lord and Ratha Yatra scenes along with a model of the Parikrama Project.
As per the CMO communiqué, the Chief Minister will arrive at about 4.45 PM at the helipad near the starting point of the Sri Setu in Puri. Then, through the Sri Setu, he will go to the Jagannath Ballabha and Sri Marga by road to reach the Temple Parikrama Project, also known as Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor Project.
