Puri: Today, after a long wait of seven centuries, the heritage city of Puri is on the cusp of becoming a major global heritage city. The most ambitious initiative to transform the Jagannath Dham has become a reality with the Heritage Corridor Project getting completed and inaugurated today.
With this, the promise made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been delivered in a record time. The adobe of Lord Jagannath has got a new look and His devotees are mesmerized. The Heritage Corridor Project is a culmination of the guidance of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the efforts and will power of 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman Kartik Pandian.
Built in the 12th century, the temple of Lord Jagannath needed a crucial transformation. With the rise in footfalls and increase in developmental activities, the peripheral areas of the temple needed to be freed from encroachments and unnecessary hindrances. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik promised to build the Parikrama Prakalpa around the Temple and that has become a reality today. With this, the first phase of the development with an expenditure of more than Rs 800 crore has completed and the devotees and pilgrims coming to Puri will have a lifetime experience of having darshan of the Lord.
While the development of Puri and the Parikrama Prakalpa was a duty towards the people of Odisha, its completion could be achieved only due to the devotion of 5T Chairman Kartik Pandian. His tireless efforts since the initial phase of conception to preparation of the Project report, land acquisition, clearing all legal hurdles, and round the clock supervision helped in the completion of the work in a record time.
Today, the temple peripheral areas have been transformed at par with the most important temples of the country. Puri has got the state’s first trumpet bridge – the Sri Setu, that will help ease growing traffic problems and innumerable pilgrim facilities across the city that will give a lifetime experience to the visitors