Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb on Sunday urged people to plant neem saplings and create Shree Jagannath Batikas on their own capacity which later may be selected as Brahma Daru for making of idols of lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, lord Sudarshan, other gods and goddesses during Nabakalebar.
Calling upon corporate houses to spend fund under their CSR activities in creating Jagannath Batikas, the King said, “This year, the Nabakalebar festival of lord Jagannath is being observed. “As per tradition, new idols of the deities will be prepared from selected neem trees. Hence, people must plant trees in their garden, isolated places, temple premises to meet the demand of tree.”
The King was speaking at a function organsied by Prerana, an organisation for social service and development of art, literature and culture at the KIIT. He also planted neem trees at the KIIT campus. Chief Secretary GC Pati also appreciated the idea of the King. Prerana secretary Dilip Srichandan, Bhubaneswar (North) MlA Priyadarshi Mishra, Khordha Collector Niranjan Sahoo, cine artist Archita Sahoo among many others attended the event.