The Shree Jagannath Temple Management Committee has given approval to theRs 800-crore heritage corridor project.

The approval comes at a time when there is a controversy over the National Monuments Authority’s heritage bylaws for various shrines of Odisha. However, following a public outcry, the culture ministry withdrew the draft bylaws for the Jagannath temple in Puri.

The plan for Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor that will come up within a 75-metre radius of the temple will ensure basic amenities to the devotees who come for darshan of the deities.

An artist’s impressions of the proposed Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor in Puri Sourced by Correspondent

Besides, the plan will focus on providing required security to the shrine and the servitors, providing basic amenities to the servitors and creating facilities for lakhs of devotees who can smoothly participate in the Rath Yatra and see the various rituals of Lord Jagannath, including the Suna Vesha (when deities are decked in golden attire during Rath Yatra).

Chief administrator of the temple, Dr Krishan Kumar, said: “The corridor has got the approval of the Odisha cabinet. It will be developed at a cost of Rs 800 crore. Those who have donated their land for the project will be given compensation. We had constituted three committees for this purpose — an advisory committee for giving suggestions on various aspects of culture, a technical committee and a design committee. More than 50 meetings were held to give a concrete shape to the corridor plan.”

“We will take approval for the draft plan from the Archaeological Survey of India, National Monuments Authority and the Odisha government by the end of this month,” said a senior member of the temple committee.

Besides providing basic amenities, a queue management facility for 6,000 devotees will be developed. All the devotees can enter and have a hassle-free darshan of the deities inside the shrine.

The plan will be developed under these components — heritage corridor, Shree Jagannath Reception Centre, providing amenities and redevelopment of existing matha temples around the shrine.

The heritage corridor component includes building a green buffer zone, a public convenience zone, shuttle-cum-emergency lane, pedestrian foot plan, service land and mixed traffic lane, among others.

At the reception centre, around 4,000 people can deposit their belongings like camera and mobile phones before going to see the deities.