Bhubaneswar, April 24: President Pranab Mukherjee arrived on a two-day visit to the state today. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik and governor S.C. Jamir, along with other dignitaries, received him at Biju Patnaik Airport.

After arriving at the airport in a special air force plane, Mukherjee drove straight to the Governor House amidst high security and later attended a dinner hosted at the Raj Bhavan in his honour.

The route from the airport to Governor House was turned into a high-security area. Around 40 platoons of police were deployed. The route was adorned with photographs of the President.

Commissioner of police Sunil Roy said: “The security arrangements have been made following guidelines mentioned in the statute book. Efforts are on to ensure minimum inconvenience is caused to the public during the President’s visit.”

Director-general of police Prakash Mishra and Roy supervised the President’s security at the airport.

According to the schedule, Mukherjee will attend the 45th Convocation of Utkal University before proceeding to Puri for darshan of Lord Jagannath tomorrow.

He will address a gathering of 3,000 students and scholars on the campus of Utkal University. The varsity will award 226 scholars with PhD degrees, 96 students with gold medals and three eminent persons — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sanatan Rath and retired Justice R.K. Patra — with honorary degrees.

Preparations have been made to ensure the President’s visit to the temple is hassle free. All rituals will be completed before his arrival at 1.10pm tomorrow. The President will spend around 30 minutes at the temple. “We are excited and waiting for his arrival at the temple,” said senior servitor Ramkrushna Dasmohapatra.

Chief administrator of Puri temple Arvind Padhee said: “Preparations are complete. During the President’s visit, there will be a restriction on the entry of other devotees to the temple for an hour.”

Keeping in mind the rising temperatures, the temple administration has painted the floor of the temple premises white. The President will be given an umbrella made of palm leaves as protection against the scorching heat.

Before his visit to Puri, a mock drill on security arrangements was conducted in Puri under the supervision of senior IPS officers. Around 30 vehicles will be used in the cavalcade.

The coastal security force has already been deployed along the Puri coast.

During his stay in Puri, the President will be served a vegetarian meal along with salad. Later, he will return to Bhubaneswar and fly back to New Delhi. In his honour, sand artist Manas Sahu has prepared a five-minute sand animation film and has sought the administration’s permission to make a presentation before the President.