Bhubaneswar: Nepal’s last king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev Wednesday was accorded a royal welcome amid the spiritual atmosphere reverberated with the chants of ‘hare krishna’ mantra, gong and conch shell sounds at Gadarathipur in Jatni constituency where he attended the closing ceremony of Gau Sambardhana Mahotsav.
Gyanendra offered ‘purnahuti’ at the Biswasanti Mahayagna, inaugurated the gaushala and laid the foundation stone of a Govinda Go Mata Mandir, first of its kind in Orissa, set to be completed by early 2020.
Addressing the gathering, the king observed that artificial articles and smart gadgets are doing our lives a bit easier, but its hazardous impact can only be made good with spirituality. He said Nepal and Orissa are tied with only one relationship and that is Jagannath culture. He expressed his happiness for the effort to save the Indian indigenous cows by establishing a gaudham on a patch of land measuring 3.5 acre.
“We work among the youth to promote applied spirituality. Shree Marg’s ‘Wow Cow Mission’ is to promote Indian cow at every household which will further boost the economy, agriculture and nutrition,” said Sibasis Satapathy, secretary, Shree Marg.
Official sources said the king will visit the Lingaraj Temple here and Sri Krishna Temple at Sakshigopal Thursday.
Gyanendra will visit the pilgrim town of Puri February 9 to attend a programme commemorating the silver jubilee of ‘Pattabhisheka’ of Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati. On February 11, he will visit Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri where he has the special privilege of performing the ‘Aarti’ of the deity atop the Ratna Singhasan of the Srimandir and is even allowed to touch the idols of The Trinity.
The king of Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Dev and representatives of Shree Jaganath Temple Administration (SJTA) will receive the last Nepal king at the Lion’s Gate of the temple, which will be closed to the public from 9.30am to 12 noon that day, the officials said. He will return from Orissa February 12, sources said. There are deep spiritual ties between Orissa and Nepal. Adi Shankaracharya had established the rituals and practices in both Jagannath and Pashupatinath temples and Nepal, which comes under the spiritual jurisdiction of Puri Shankaracharya’s Govardhan mutt.
PNN