Securing Puri from Threats Is Need of The Hour

Bhubaneswar: Puri, one of the four sacred religious Dhams of India, has been the center of spiritual activities for centuries now. Millions of people visit the city to have Darshan and take the blessings of Lord Jagannath every year.

The religious significance of Lord Jagannath Temple and the other institutions associated with it to Indian society can never be undermined. Now the time has come to secure the Temple and thwart any untoward incident that may come from any unseen direction. There have been threats to many of the famous religious centers of India.

History is witness to many attacks by terrorists on temples in India.

In 2002, the famous Akhsardham temple of Gandhinagar in Gujarat was attacked by terrorists that resulted in bloodshed of innocent lives. The same year the Raghunath Temple of Jammu was also attacked by terrorists.

Terrorism has no religion. There has always been threat to other religious places too. Being one of the principal places of Hindu religion, Puri is also on the radar of the extremists. There have been numerous warnings given from the central intelligence agencies regarding threat to the Jagannath Temple of Puri.

Especially in times of Ratha Yatra and other important religious occasions, the threat increases. Hence, the threat to the Temple cannot be neglected and efforts need to be taken to secure it from all directions.

The government has taken a step to secure the centuries old Temple from any incident and the process has already been started. In order to implement this, the government has decided to remove the structures within 75 meters from around the temple to create a buffer zone. It needs to remove many of the dilapidated buildings along with the mutts, commercial establishments and residential places. This step will help crating a better security infrastructure around the temple.

Everybody wants to see Lord Temple in a secure and safe environment. So, all should help and cooperate in the redevelopment process and keeping alive the Jagannath culture for the centuries to come.