“I will take the risk. I will forgo my government, but I will get this done.” This was Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s response when he was appraised about the political risk involved in building the ambitious Shri Jagannatha Parikrama Prakalpa or the Shri Jagannath Heritage Corridor in Puri. The story was narrated by former IAS officer, 5T Secretary and now BJD leader VK Pandian at a function.
Built in the 12th Century by King Ananta Varman Chodaganga Deva of the Ganga dynasty, the Shri Jagannath temple holds immense significance for the people of Odisha and believers across the world. It still runs as per hundreds of years old customs and even the slightest disturbance or change evokes sharp reactions.
Therefore, the Parikrama project, which entailed the demolition of centuries-old mutts and ashrams apart from shops and residential areas to create the heritage corridor around the outer boundary of the temple, was fraught with risks of discontent and backlash.
Gajapati Maharaj Dibya Singha Deb, the titular king of Puri, lent his full support for the project and said that, in the past 700 years, something like this had not been undertaken.
Recalling the Chief Minister’s commitment to the project, Pandian told the audience at the International Conclave on Urban Transformation: “So, when the thought came to do something for Puri by the Honorable Chief Minister, somebody very important said ‘are you sure you want to do this? So many years (have passed), nobody has done it’. So he (Patnaik) said ‘yes, I am pretty serious about doing this’.”
“There is a huge political risk involved in case you have to take up this project because I have seen the chief ministers who started with full enthusiasm, stopped the project after 15 days or one month because they know that they are wading into some troubled waters that may finish their political career and government may fall. That is the kind of attachment that people have with this temple. So, you do one mistake, your political career will be closed. You are actually playing with fire,” Pandian quoted the other party in the conversation as having said.
According to Pandian, the CM responded thus: “I am in my fifth term, people have bestowed so much love and affection on me. And people of Odisha have so much love, affection, trust, faith on Lord Jagannath. If I can’t do this for the people who have reposed so much faith and trust in me, I don’t think history will judge me kindly. I will take the risk. I will forgo my government, but I will get this thing done.”
Two days before the inauguration of the project, the Odisha Chief Minister had posted a seven-minute video in which he had said: “Mahaprabhu Shi Jagannath is the ‘shrestha parichaya’ of the Odia people… Mahaprabhu Jagannath is the foundation of the culture, tradition and consciousness of Odisha.”
Giving a hint of his spiritual side, Patnaik had said: “We are indeed fortunate that during our lifetime, we are witness to the inauguration of the Sri Mandir Parikrama project. For hundreds of years, saints, sages and commoners and kings had provided security to the Sri Mandira and used to circumambulate around the temple. Our purpose to is provide pilgrims with the opportunity of circumambulating the temple in peace and bliss.”
Patnaik had requested the people in Odisha and abroad to observe the day by lighting lamps, blowing conchshells and singing bhajans. Patnaik also thanked the people who had given up their land for the project and everyone who had contributed to the project.
The grand inauguration of the Srimandira Parikrama Prakalpa, just four days ahead of the Pran Pratishtha or consecration of the Lord Ram idol at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, was Patnaik’s big offering ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha. With the Parikrama project, Patnaik has fulfilled a manifesto promise and made his pitch for a sixth term as Odisha Chief Minister.
