Tight Vigilance at Puri Temple

PURI: Security around the 12th century Jagannath temple here was doubled on Thursday in wake of the terror threat.
While devotees were being frisked at the four entry gates to the temple, security forces have been deployed at the entry and exit points of the town. Armed police have also been patrolling the railway station and bus stand.

Similarly, patrolling has been intensified on the beach. Personnel at the marine police stations in Penthakata, Astarang, Arkuda and Chandrabhaga have been put on high alert and additional forces deployed to undertake regular patrolling.
This is not for the first time that there have been Intelligence inputs on possible terror attack on the temple. Following terrorist strikes at IISc, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, a three-member team of National Security Guards headed by Commander Major LK Nishad in 2006 evaluated the existing security arrangements in the temple and described it as a soft target for terror strikes. The team had submitted a number of suggestions to prevent possible strike including an emergency contingency plan.
Commander Nishad had reportedly suggested to remove all structures from the periphery of the temple as they pose grave threat. But the State Government and Puri administration did precious little to implement the suggestion.
Even as the State Government had announced several measures to beef up security arrangements, those have been put in cold storage. Every time there is a report of possible terror attack in the country, Puri Police doubles up security provision in the shrine for a day or two. As on today, the metal detectors and CCTV cameras installed in the temple do not work round-the-clock while watch towers erected nearby remain unmanned.
Puri SP Ashish Kumar Singh said, “We have increased security of the temple. All persons entering the shrine are being checked at the main gate.” Top police officials are expected to arrive at Puri on Friday to review the security measures.

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Logs for chariots arrive in Jagannath Puri

The first lot of logs for construction of chariots for Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra in the Nabakalebar year arrived at the rathakhala (the site where the chariots for the Lord’s yatra are constructed) in Odisha’s pilgrim town Puri on Friday.

In the first lot, 40 pieces of logs reached the rathakhala in two trucks – 24 asan pieces and 16 dhoura pieces.

Of the 40 logs, 17 measuring 12 feet in length each and seven of 20 feet eachare of the asan variety, 12 of 12 feet length each from the dhoura variety and four logs of 20 feet each from the same variety.

As per tradition, three logs from the asan variety are consecrated on Saraswati puja day while construction of the chariots begins on the auspicious day of akshya trutiya.

As per the Ratha Sanhita, the manual for construction of chariots, 865 pieces of logs are required for construction of the three chariots. Various parts of the chariots are carved out of these logs.

The sawing of logs (ratha katha chirota parba) for the construction of the chariots begins on the Rama Navami day. Other than asan and dhoura, logs derived from phasi species of trees also play an important role in the construction of the chariots.

Taking into consideration 174 pieces of unused logs in stock from last year’s Rath Yatra, 611 pieces of logs will be required to be procured for this year’s Rath Yatra .

Besides, 40 logs from the neem species have been already procured for carving the idols of peripheral gods and goddesses which are placed on the body of the chariots.  As per tradition, idols of peripheral gods and goddesses, horses, sarathi etc. used in the chariots are carved afresh in the Nabakalebar year.

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Puri enters Centre's 'Hriday'- Rs 22 crore for pilgrim city to develop infrastructure

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 12: Puri has been included in the Union government's Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (Hriday).

The decision will give a boost to the city's image, particularly at a time when it is about to celebrate the Nabakalabar festival (change of idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings in their 12th century temple), which is expected to be attended by nearly 50 lakh visitors from all over the world this year.

Under this programme, the Centre will provide Rs 22 crore as financial assistance for development of infrastructure in the city.

State tourism and culture minister Ashok Panda welcomed the decision and said: "The central government has finally conceded to our demand. Puri was included due to our persistent demands."

Besides Puri, 11 other cities of the country have been included in the proposed project. These are Amritsar (Punjab)m Ajmer (Rajasthan), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Gaya (Bihar), Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Vellankanni (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Badami (Karnataka), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Waranagal (Telangana) and Dwarka (Gujarat).

The scheme was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Vijyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday but it was rescheduled at the last minute.

"The programme will be launched on January 21. I can't comment on the Prime Minister's engagements on that day. But the Union minister for urban development (M. Venkaiah Naidu) will be present at the event," undersecretary in charge of the heritage city project of the Union ministry of urban development, Sumit Gathear, told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi.

While the cities of Puri and Dwarka city have each been allocated Rs 22 crore, Varanasi - the constituency of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi - has received the highest allocation of Rs 90 crore, followed by Amritsar with Rs 70 crore. The money will be spent on infrastructure development in these cities within a period of four years. "The main objective of the scheme is to preserve the character of the heritage cities and to facilitate inclusive heritage linked urban development," said an official.

The executive officer of Puri Municipality has been asked to rush to New Delhi to attend the inaugural function and also brief the central government officials about projects that could be undertaken in Puri.

Puri Municipality chairman Jayanta Sarangi said: "We have prepared a vision plan for the city that is more than 1,000 years old. The presentation includes the features of annual car festival and the significance of the Nabakalebar festival, which takes place once between 14 and 20 years."

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Rs 1542-Cr Plan Outlay for Puri

The Nava-kalevera ceremony at Lord Jagannath temple

Can I climb the Ratha and touch Jagannath?

Ratha Yatra Preparations at Jagannath Puri

PURI: The District Plan Monitoring Committee on Saturday passed a comprehensive district plan outlay of `1542 crore for the financial year of 2014-15.

In wake of the ensuing Nabakalebara Festival of the Trinity, a special allocation of `3.66 crore has been made under tourism head for widening and development of NH-203A from Puri to Alarnath temple under Brahmagiri block. This apart, around `1.5 crore has been earmarked for development of Deuli Mutt and Mangala temple at Kakatpur and `3.5 crore for creating temporary pilgrim shelters for one lakh devotees in Puri. 

Earlier, the Government has decided to develop temporary shelters in Puri to provide accommodation to tourists thronging the town during Nabakalebara. These shelters will be designed on the lines of those provided during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain.

Over 30 lakh devotees are expected to throng Puri to witness the Nabakalebara which will be celebrated in June next year after a gap of 19 years. The existing idols of the Trinity and Sudarshan will be replaced by a new set of idols. Preparations for Nabakalebara would begin from March next year and culminate with Rath Yatra on June 15, sources in the temple administration said.

Apart from funds for Nabakalebara preparations, the committee has set aside `8122.14 lakh for development of agriculture in the district, while `19,552 lakh have been earmarked for rural development. For drainage, irrigation and flood control measures, an amount of `10,410.25 lakh has been sanctioned.

Revenue Minister Bijayshree Routray presided over the meeting and legislators of six Assembly segments of the district and Collector Aravind Agarwal were present.

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Sanwar Lal Jat: Nepal’s Sarda river identified to be linked with Yamuna

Revival of Ganga and Yamuna - the struggle goes on

Spiritual Significance of Ganga and Yamuna

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) The Sarda river in Nepal has been identified for connecting with river Yamuna as the Sarda-Yamuna link, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Besides, Sarda, also known as Mahakali there, the Ghaghra river (known as Karnali river in Nepal) has been identified for linking with the Yamuna, Minister of State for Water Resource Sanwar Lal Jat said.

“Both these links are identified under the Himalayan river component of the national perspective plan,” he said in a written reply.

The plan was formulated by the Water Resource Ministry in 1980 for inter-basin transfer of water from surplus basins to deficit basins, he said.

Replying to a separate question, he said Rajasthan is not receiving its due share of water from the Yamuna and blamed Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for this.

He said Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have repeatedly been advised to release the agreed share of water to Rajasthan from Okhla barrage and to stop unauthorised lifting of canal water by their farmers in their territories.

“Advisories have been issued to these states in September, October and November,” he said.

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Revival model for Yamuna may vary from Sabarmati

Revival of Ganga and Yamuna - the struggle goes on

Spiritual Significance of Ganga and Yamuna

The restoration plan for the dirty Yamuna may not be a complete copy of the Sabarmati river front development project in Gujarat as the two rivers’ ecological models are different, say Delhi environment department officials who visited Ahmedabad for studying the Sabarmati revival model.

Delhi’s Environment and Forest Secretary Sanjiv Kumar said: “Both Sabarmati and Yamuna have separate ecological models and environment.”

“There cannot be a straight jacket solution...that we can copy and apply in the case of Yamuna,” he said.

Sources in the Delhi government said Delhi is better placed than Ahmedabad in terms of relocating slums from river banks. “We have very nearly freed the river bed of slums but in Ahmedabad this continues to be a challenge,” he said.

“The concrete wall along Sabarmati is used not only to channelise the river but also as a curtain to hide the slums abutting the river,” said an official source. No decision has yet been taken whether Yamuna will also get a concrete pavement and wall along the river’s entire length in the city as has been the case with the Sabarmati river front development, he said.

“The flow of fresh water in Sabarmati is slow which is one of the reasons for causing problems like water algae growth,” said another official, claiming that in Delhi they would not want a clean Yamuna to face a similar problem.

There are proposals to make Yamuna navigable like Sabarmati but Delhi officials said the source of fresh water in both the rivers may be different.

“In Delhi, the Yamuna is likely to carry treated sewage water, where as in Sabarmati fresh water from the Narmada dam is released to keep it alive,” said another official.
“The interceptor drains project in Delhi, for trapping and treating sewage before dropping it into the Yamuna, will be completed by June 2015,” said Sanjiv Kumar.

In Sabarmati river’s case, the sewage from drains that was falling into the river has been diverted into a large drain which runs parallel to the rejuvenated river and carries the sewage to treatment plants, said an official, adding that Ahmedabad has sewage treatment capacity in excess of its current requirement .

Delhi, on the other hand, is still short of adequate waste water treatment capacity.
The total waste water generation in Delhi is about 700 million gallons per day (MGD), out of which more than 80 per cent is domestic sewage and the rest is industrial waste.

The installed sewage treatment capacity in the capital is 604 MGD and the capacity utilisation is a low 60 per cent. To add to Yamuna’s pollution, 45 per cent of the sewage in authorised colonies is still untapped and falls untreated into the Yamuna.

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Devotees throng Jagannath Temple for ‘Pahili Bhoga’

ISKCON Bangalore Temple

The Nava-kalevera ceremony at Lord Jagannath temple

Can I climb the Ratha and touch Jagannath?

Ratha Yatra Preparations at Jagannath Puri

Thousands of devotees waited patiently for ‘Pahili Bhoga’ (first offering) of the Trinity in Odisha’ pilgrim town of Puri on the occasion of Dhanu Sankranti on Tuesday.

The special offering came out of the  Jagannath Temple more than an hour behind schedule. But that did not deter devotees from eagerly waiting for their share.

On this special day, mother Yashoda cooks for Lord Jagannath, brother Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, the presiding deities of Puri, in the absence of goddess Laxmi on this special occasion during the lunar Pousha in the Hindu almanac.

“Pahili Bhoga”, the morning offering which started on Tuesday, will continue till  Makar Sankranti day on January 13, 2015. Dhanu Muan, a sweet offering, is part of the menu of the deities during this month.

During the month-long festivity, mahaprasad, the cooked offerings, becomes more attractive and sought after. The menu list becomes large with addition of various mouth-watering dishes. Cakes made of blackgram and curd based preparations are also added t the menu during this  period. Apples, oranges, grapes are added to the curd and in another dish carrots are mixed.

A remarkable feature of this period is that bhog is available early. This early day meal is known as “Pahili Bhoga” which is offered to the deities soon after the breakfast.

According to Hindu mythology, goddess Laxmi, who cooks food for Him, leaves for her parent’s place. So in her absence, mother Yashoda prepares food for her offsprings. Several special rituals are followed during this period.

For smooth conduct of the rituals, the temple administration, neeti sub committee, Chhatisa Niyog and management committee work in tandem.

As per temple administration sources, the parimanik darshan of the deities will be suspended on 31^st December and 1^st January.

In view of Christmas and New Year celebrations, the tourist inflow to the holy city shows an upward trend every year. This year also, footfall is expected to maintain the momentum.

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