Puri: Newly-appointed Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal visited Srimandir and paid obeisance to Lord Jagannath before his oath-taking ceremony in Bhubaneswar Tuesday.
Lal, his spouse and several of his relatives reached the 12th century shrine at 11.45 am. Shree Jagannath Temple Administration’s (SJTA) chief administrator Pradeep Jena, collector Aravind Agrawal and superintendent of police Sarthak Kumar Sarangi welcomed Lal at the shrine’s Lions’ Gate.
The governor and his family spent around 25 minutes at Srimandir, sources said.
“I am extremely happy to have darshan of Lord Jagannath before assuming office. I had earlier visited the shrine twice,” Lal told the media after coming out of Srimandir.
Responding to a query on his assignment in Odisha, Lal said he would try to reach out to the unreachable and safeguard the vulnerable people.
Sources, meanwhile, claimed that as many as 80 relatives of Lal visited the shrine along with him. “Many of the high-profile devotees carried mobile phones into the shrine in violation of norms,” said a source.