Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday morning visited the Shree Jagannath Temple here and paid obeisance to the Trinity. She was accorded a warm welcome by servitors at main entrance of the temple before being ushered into the shrine.
On the issue of scarcity of Kasturi (musk) for use in rituals in the Jagannath Temple, Bhandari assured the Odisha Government that she would try to find a solution to it. She said she would discuss with the Nepal Government as to how to resolve the Kasturi crisis at the temple.
It may be noted that Kasturi, which is collected from a stag’s navel, is used in rituals at the Jagannath Temple from the inception of the shrine. And Nepal contributes the precious musk for the services of lord Jagannath in view of the close link between the shrine and the Nepal royal family.
“I am visiting India on an invitation of (India’s) President Pranab Mukherjee,” Bhandari told mediapersons after offering prayer at the Jagannath Temple.
Bhandari, who was on a two-day tour of Odisha as part of her maiden five-day trip to India, also visited the Sun Temple in Konark. After arriving in Bhubaneswar, she had a darshan of lord lingaraj besides attending a Mission Shakti programme at Pokhariput in the city on Thursday.