Delhi-based Odisha Forum would urge the Odisha Government to revive the Jagannath Sadak and all its monuments besides to name it as the Guru Nanak Marg and to create a ‘Guru Nanak Chair’ at the Utkal University.
A decision in this regard was taken at a seminar entitled 'Guru Nanak 's Visit to Puri and the Spread of the Jagannath Culture’.
Anil Dhir, who was the chief speaker, has authored a book called "Jagannath Sadak" in which he has described his experience of a 14-day tour from Jagannath Haat in West Bengal's Hoogly to Jagannath Temple at Puri on the road under an INTACH project. The book is due for release next month in what would be the Odisha Government's tribute to the first Sikh Guru on the occasion of his 550th birthday on November 12.
Dhir talked about the oneness of the Jagannath culture and Sikhism. "The Odisha model of the composite culture of India," Dhir said, "finds its truest reflection in Jagannnathsadak. Besides Hindu shrines, there are Shaivite, Muslim, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist shrines all along the road, which was as popular with pilgrims as with plunderers."
"There are 300 tangible monuments but a thousand have disapeared, and for every one historical place that has been preserved ten have vanished. Out of the 512 kilometers from Hoogly to Puri, 300 kilometers of the Jagannath road have vanished."
According to Dhir, there is a mafia in Odisha that goes about tricking the simple custodians of these old places into parting with precious heritage pieces, including scripts.