Gajapati Maharaja Dibya Singha Deb on Saturday braved rain and went round the Srimandir Parikrama project to review the progress of the construction work.
Accompanied by Chief Administrator, Advisor and other committee members he toured through the Paschima Dwara (west gate) and enquired on the work. He thanked everyone for their cooperation and support for implementation of the project that will benefit lakhs of devotees who visit the Jagannath Temple.
Later, Maharaja held a meeting at the Srimandir office where officials discussed the orders of the Supreme Court, ASI and NMA. The committee also discussed the completion of the project on time.
Among others present at the meeting were Dr NC Pal, Ashok Patel, Professor Harekrushna Satapathy and many OBCC officials.
Conceived in 2016, the Puri Heritage Corridor project was unveiled in December 2019 by CM Naveen Patnaik to transform Puri into an international place of heritage. Once completed, the project will benefit devotees to have a smooth darshan of the deities during festivals and other special occasions like Rath Yatra at the Puri Jagannath temple.
Official sources said there will be a reception hall to accommodate around 6,000 devotees. Similarly, the green corridor will have a cloakroom along with separate toilet complexes for devotees, ATM counters and pilgrim information centres.
The ambitious Heritage Corridor project, pegged at a whopping Rs 331.28 crore, will be constructed by the Tatas (company).
The project includes SJTA building redevelopment, a 6000-capacity Srimandir reception centre, Jagannath cultural centre including Raghunandan library, Badadanda heritage streetscape, Srimandir amenities improvement, Sri Setu, Jagannath Ballav pilgrim centre, multilevel car parking among other amenities.
In the first phase, structures of religious and historical importance like Languli Mutt, Badachhata Mutt and Chhauni Mutt will be revamped with new Kalingan style architecture.