Bhubaneswar: The anxious wait for thousands of devotees of Lord Jagannath is over today with the announcement of the deity’s 'Daru' which is identified near Kharipadia of Raghunathpur in Jagatsinghpur district.
Chief administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Suresh Mohapatra made a formal announcement to this effect this morning after being briefed by the leader of Banajaga dalapati Haladhara Dasmohapatra.
Elaborating about security arrangements, Mohapatra said since barricading around the holy tree is going on by the district administration, the devotees will not be allowed to have a close view of the tree today.
“Since heavy rain has lashed the area last night, the district administration will take one day to complete barricading and from tomorrow the devotees will have a smooth darshan of the tree,” the SJTA chief said.
The Banajaga team leader informed Mohapatra about the tree after carefully studying the symptoms of the daru and consulting with the Banajaga daitapatis.
Officials said, since the tree is situated in a very narrow place, elaborate traffic arrangements are being made for safety of visitors and smooth vehicular movement in the area.
“We expect a large crowd of devotees and have identified parking slots for vehicles coming from nearby Jagatsinghpur, Paradip, Kendrapara and Cuttack where policemen would be deployed. We are also making arrangements for the maintenance of law and order in the area,’’ an official said.
Interestingly, this is the third Daru identified in the district for the Trinity after Lord Balabhadra’s Daru was found in front of Maa Sarala temple at Kanakpur and Goddess Subhadra’s at Nilakantheswar temple in Adhanga under Biridi block of the district.
Mohapatra along with Collector Satya Kumar Mallick and other officials visited the site today morning and instructed the district officials for erection of barricade around the holy tree.
As soon as the announcement on Daru was made, a mammoth gathering of devotees was witnessed to offer prayer to the holy tree.