President visits Shree Jagannath Temple  

Puri: President Ram Nath Kovind today paid obeisance to the deities at Shree Jagannath Temple here and sought blessings amid tight security.

Kovind, who is on his maiden visit to Odisha after becoming President, was welcomed at the Singhdwar, the Lion's Gate of the 12th century shrine, by Gajapati King of Puri Dibyasingha Deb and senior servitors. Accompanied by wife Savita Kovind, the President was escorted inside the sprawling temple complex among others by the Gajapati King of Puri, officials of Shree Jagannath Temple Administrtaion (SJTA) and his family priest.

The President went inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and offered prayers before the sibling deities of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath during a special darshan, said a senior priest.

Kovind also paid obeisance at the temples of Devi Bimala and Mahalaxmi and went around the sprawling complex spending around 45 minutes inside. Elaborate arrangements were made by the district administration and the officials of SJTA for the President's visit to the temple.

A tight security net was thrown around the temple which remained closed for the public for two hours in view of the visit of Kovind, a senior official said.

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Odisha Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty and Puri Collector Aravind Agarwal were present on the occasion. The President arrived in Bhubaneswar yesterday on a two-day visit to Odisha.

PTI