Nepal king offers prayer at Srimandir

PURI: Nepal king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev offered his prayer to the deities at Sri Jagannath temple here on Sunday. He presented gifts to the temple treasury.According to the religious convention, the Nepal king enjoys certain privileges at Srimandir, including the conduct of ‘alati’ and ‘pooja’ of the deities atop the Ratnasimhasan.

King Shah Dev reached the temple’s South gate around 11 am along with Rajguru and his aides. He was received at the gate by his Puri counterpart Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb, temple administrator, District Magistrate Arabind Agarwal and SP Sarthak Sarangi. His local family priest Lalmoharia Panda conducted the royal entourage in the temple.

Earlier, the temple ritual was rescheduled to facilitate the visit of the Nepal king. Other temples located in the complex remained shut. The temple was closed for devotees from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm.Servitors and chief of Chhatisha Nijog helped the king in performing the pooja. The Nepal king presented three Salgrams of Ganduki river, some gold coins and Rudrakshyas to the deities. As per convention, kings used to enter the temple through the South gate. The main gate, Simhadwar, is used by the devotees.Ten platoons of police personnel were deployed for his visit. Thousands of residents and devotees waited along Badadanda for hours to see the king. This was his second visit to Puri after 15 years.