Odisha CM felicitates families who vacated lands for Jagannath Temple

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik felicitated 11 families on Wednesday for voluntarily giving away ir land for security and beautification of Jagannath Temple in Puri. Chief Minister presented silver filigree Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra idols to families at an event organised at Loka Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneshwar. Earlier, Patnaik had appealed to people of Puri to volunteer in vacating ir houses for safety of 12th-century shrine.

Patnaik told families that ir sacrifice would be remembered by people of Odisha. He said, "People of Odisha will be indebted to you for this."

Asserting that state government has been offering a good rehabilitation pack, Patnaik urged ors to avail of benefits of scheme and cooperate with administration in strengning security of temple.

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"Your sacrifice will add a new history in service of Lord Jagannath. future generations of Odisha will remember your sacrifice," he said. Odisha government has recently launched a demolition drive around 12th-century old Hindu shrine to free it from encroachments within 75 meters from temple's boundary wall.

Earlier, Supreme Court has called out government of Odisha for demolishing old mutts around Jagannath temple in Puri. state government has claimed that se mutts were “old” and “dilapidated” whereas, activists said that se mutts were essential to worship in temple. apex court has asked state government to stop demolition of mutts immediately. y directed government to consult spiritual leaders like Puri Shankaracharya and or stakeholders before taking any step. 

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Redevelopment Projects

three redevelopment projects in Puri were approved by Naveen Patnaik on September 5. redevelopment projects included a project worth Rs 25 crore for reconstruction of Raghunandan library, a housing project worth Rs 95 crore for rehabilitation of displaced people from security zone of Jagannath Temple, and a project to construct Herit Security Zone.

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Jagannath Temple of Puri

Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Lord Maha Vishnu. present temple was rebuilt in 10th Century by first King of Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva.

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(With input from ncies)