For non-Hindus, a replica of Jagannath Temple

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BHUBANESWAR: As the Jagannath Temple remains out of bounds to nonHindus which remains a subject of fierce debate, the Tourism Depa..

BHUBANESWAR: As the Jagannath Temple remains out of bounds to nonHindus which remains a subject of fierce debate, the Tourism Department has made an attempt to showcase it to them albeit through a replica. The Department is all set to construct the replica of the 11th century shrine in the Holy City. Idols of the Trinity, however, will not be installed in the replica temple neither will the worship of any kind be done.
The replica temple, named Srikhetra, will come up on 42 acres of land belonging to the Jagannath Ballav Mutt, about 800 metres from the main temple. It will be executed by the OTDC which had already submitted the plan to the PuriKonark Development Authority (PKDA) for approval. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had approved the project last month. OTDC Chairman Jyotiskar Mohapatra said the project would come up as a part of the Puri Mega Tourism Circuit. "Of the ` 14 crore sanctioned for the Tourism Circuit, ` 3 crore will be used for illumination of the Grand Road from Jagannath temple to Gundicha Temple and the remaining ` 11 crore for building the Srikhetra," he said. The OTDC has approached the Chief Minister to sanction an additional amount of ` 15 crore in the next budget for construction of the replica.

The primary reason behind the project is to give a feel of the main temple to the foreigners and nonHindus who are denied entry to the main temple.

Besides, logs of the dismantled chariots after the Rath Yatra this year will be used to construct the miniature chariots which will be kept on the premises of the replica temple for a year.

In the past, there have been several incidents where nonHindus and foreigners have been illtreated for entering the shrine.