The pilgrim city of Puri was drenched in religious frenzy as chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s dream project —the Shreemandira Parikrama Prakalpa — was dedicated to the people in the presence of a battery of dignitaries, including Gajapati Maharaja of Puri Dibyasingha Deb, on Wednesday.

Chants of Jai Jagannath rent the sky as lakhs of devotees descended on Puri to witness the event that marks the transformation of the city into a world-class place in the pilgrimage centre.

The chants of Jay Jagannath were punctuated by the intermittent invocation of the lord with shouts of “Haribolo” and recitation of the Vedic mantras.

The project has seen the light of the day after long years of court battles and stiff opposition, from a section of people. But it promises to transform the pilgrim city of Puri.

The Parikrama Prakalpa is a 75-metre corridor around the 12th century Shree Jagannath temple.

The project offers expansive, unobstructed corridors around the Meghanada Pacheri (the wall surrounding the temple) and serves the function of providing amenities for pilgrims.

It also provides a large open space as many festivals of the temple, including the Rath Yatra, take place here. It allows a large congregation of devotees.

Under the project, all the dilapidated mutts have been redeveloped.

A new bridge — Sree Setu — connecting the outskirts of the pilgrim city to the parking place, easing traffic congestion, Shree danda, a road running parallel to the main road (Bada Danda) and a four-tier multi-car parking system with parking facilities for nearly 1,650 cars, have also been developed under the
project.

The city was decorated with lights, lampshades hanging from trees and pattachitras. The Sree Setu bridge has been adored with statues that speak of the glory of Kalingan art and architecture.

The pattachitras painted on the walls and stone works speak volumes about the Kalingan style of architecture. The stones tell their own story.

After dedicating the project, Naveen accompanied by Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb moved around the corridor, waving people and acknowledging their greetings.

“It’s a beautiful spiritual experience. The city has been completely transformed. Earlier we used to face a lot of difficulties in parking the vehicles,” said Mitanjali Pradhan, a school teacher.

Similar feelings were echoed by the people on Wednesday who had come to Puri to witness the inaugural function of the Rs 943 crore parikrama prakalpa.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s stunning. There are no words to express the joy of seeing the city after six years. There is a spiritual vibration engulfing the entire city,” said Biswajit Mohanty, a computer professional.

Early in the morning, there was a drizzle in Puri, making the atmosphere more suitable for the magnificent inaugural programme.

Though Rath Yatra, the biggest festival of Lord Jagannath is still six months away, the atmosphere in Puri almost matched that with people singing devotional songs and
dancing.

On the occasion, renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sand sculpture at Puri beach in Odisha.

“Along with eight students, I have created a 5ft high sand sculpture showing the parikrama of Shreemandira with Mahaprabhu Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. I have used about five tons of sand in it.

“The objective is to spread awareness through the sand sculpture about the project,” Pattnaik told The Telegraph.