Puri Srimandir Heritage Corridor Project work incomplete! Devotees express resentment

Even seven months after the inauguration of the Srimandir Parikrama Project (Srimandir Heritage Corridor project) in Puri, the construction work is still to be completed.

The then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the under-construction project on January 17, 2024, in a hasty manner before the last General Elections. However, many important works in the project are yet to be completed. 

As per reports, many works around Srimandir are still going on. Reconstruction of Emar Mutt, Bada Chhata Mutt and Punjabi Mutt are yet to be completed. ‘Sri Setu’ and ‘Sri Danda’ are still under construction. Promises about the construction of Jagannath Reception Centre and Raghunandana Library have been forgotten.

Moreover, no arrangements have been made to provide seating and drinking water facilities to the devotees in the project which has been built with an expenditure of Rs 4,224 crore. Several devotees expressed their resentment over the development.

“No facilities have been provided for the convenience of devotees in the project. It has been constructed like an individual work,” rued a devotee.

“One must visit Ujjain to see the corridor project there. We have no facilities here. The project has been constructed in Puri without having any vision and foresight,” said Biswanath Samantray, a senior servitor.

During the construction of the project, devotees were apprehensive that Odia art and culture would be ruined and that seems to have happened. Though it was promised that the demolished mutts and other structures would be reconstructed in the ancient Utkal style, it was fully forgotten. The construction work has been made with plane Khondalite stones without any artefacts much to the disappointment of devotees. It is evident in mutts like Emar, Mangu, Punjabi, Trimali and Rebesha located around Srimandir.

Moreover, the ‘Jhulana Jatra’ of Lord Jagannath, which has a deep connection with Srimandir culture, has almost been stopped as the areas of several mutts have been narrowed.

“Large areas of several mutts have been used in the corridor. As the mutts are functioning in narrow places, ‘Jhulana Jatra’ of Lord Jagannath has been stopped due to lack of space,” said Radha Krushna Das Maharaj, Mahanta of Radhaballabha Mutt.

Meanwhile, Puri collector Siddharth Shankar Swain admitted that many works of the Srimandir Heritage Corridor Project are yet to be completed.

“Core buildings of several mutts are being restored. As religious sentiments are attached and it’s a sensitive issue, we are taking opinions to carry out construction work,” said Swain.