Govardhan Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, reacting to the reported terrorist plans to organise serial blasts in Puri during the car festival to cause heavy human causalities, said Puri is one of the four important dhamas and an important place of pilgrimage of Hindu faith where everyday thousands of pilgrims visit to offer prayers to lord Jagannath.
It is the responsibility of both the Union and State Governments to protect the temple and ensure safety of the pilgrims and the visitors. All socio-cultural and economic developments of the country centre round the abode of lord Jagannath. Hence, it is the foremost duty of the authorities to protect the shrine and the holy city, Shankaracharya said.
Notably, following a terrorist strike in IISc, Bangalore and Hyderabad, a three-member national security guard team headed by Commander Major lK Nishad had evaluated the existing security arrangements of the temple in 2006.
He had described it as a soft target for terrorist strike and submitted a number of suggestions to prevent possible strike, including an emergency contingency plan in the event of a terrorist strike. Though the NSG Commander, Nishad had refused to reveal his suggestions of lacunas, it is learnt that the report suggested removal of all structures from the perimeters of the temple as the multi-storey buildings located in close proximity of the temple and around it pose a threat to it.