As scheduled, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the lingaraj Temple here on Sunday morning and paid his obeisance to the deity amid tight security arrangements in and around the shrine.
A very large number of people thronged the Ekamra Kshetra to have a glimpse of Modi. They stood behind the barricades erected for smooth movement of the PM’s cavalcade. People welcomed him chanting Hulahuli and Haribol.
Modi entered the main gate of the temple at 8.50 am. Priests and guides showed him various side temples and sculptures during a Bedha Parikrama before his darshan of lord lingaraj. Historian Prafulla Makdam was among the PM’s guides. Modi took photographs with the priests. Many servitors also took selfie with him
How the temple wowed Modi was evident when he explored about the aesthetic carvings on the majestic temple walls from officials and Sevayats, said Prafulla Makdam. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP State president Basanta Panda and general secretary Bhrugu Baxipatra accompanied Modi during the visit.
Modi is credited to be the first Prime Minister to visit the 11th-Century Shiva temple.
The PM moved around the Bedha (the temple’s compound) with folded hands amid chanting of mantras, Hulahuli and Haribol and beating of drums and cymbals. He also offered prayers to Shree Ganesh, Shree Kartikeshwar and Devi Parbati in the Bedha before paying obeisance to lord lingaraj and offering Korakhai Bhog to the presiding deity.
Common devotees were not allowed to visit the temple for 10 minutes before the Prime Minister reached there.
Modi wrote on facebook, “Prayed at the lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar. The magnificence of the Temple and Temple Complex leaves a lasting impression on the mind.”