Odisha CM Mohan Manjhi’s First Cabinet Meet Makes Big Decision On Puri Jagannath Temple

Odisha CM’s First Cabinet Meeting: A day after Odisha’s new Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi took over the office, he chaired its first Cabinet meeting and approved a proposal to re-open all four gates of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri on early Thursday morning. The state’s BJP government also established a corpus fund for the immediate needs of the 12th-century shrine. 

CM Manjhi, along with Puri MP Sambit Patra and other MLAs, visited the Jagannatha Temple on Thursday after the administration opened all four gates and attended the famous Mangal Aarati. 

Talking to news agency ANI after the visit, the CM said, "We had proposed to open all four gates of Jagannath Temple in yesterday's cabinet meeting. The proposal was passed, and today at 6:30 am, I, along with my MLAs and Puri MP attended the 'Mangala aarti'. For the development of the Jagannath Temple and other works, we have proposed a fund in the cabinet. When we present the next state budget, we will allot a corpus fund of Rs 500 crores for temple management." 

#WATCH | Puri: Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi says, "We had proposed to open all the four gates of Jagannath Temple in yesterday's cabinet meeting. The proposal was passed and today at 6:30 am, I along with my MLAs and Puri MP (Sambit Patra) attended the 'Mangala aarti'... For the… pic.twitter.com/vioZvBEjl3 — ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2024

During the meeting at the state secretariat Lok Seva Bhawan, Manjhi said, “The state government decided to re-open all four gates of the Puri Jagannath temple in the early morning tomorrow in the presence of all ministers. Devotees will have access to the temple through all four gates,” reported PTI. 

Odisha CM further said that the devotees were facing problems due to the closure of gates, thus the BJP has fulfilled one of its poll promises as stated in the election manifesto regarding the opening of all four gates. 

The previous BJD administration kept the four gates of the temple closed since the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing devotees to enter through only one gate. There were demands for opening all gates. 

Majhi stated that in order to conserve and preserve the temple, the Cabinet decided to establish a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore to address the shrine's issues.