Bhubaneswar: The sacred urn containing ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was carried in procession from the BJP State Headquarters here for immersion in Puri Mahodadhi Thursday.
The solemn procession began at 10 am from the BJP party office.
Odisha BJP president Basant Panda returned from Delhi Wednesday evening with the urn which was handed over to him by senior party leader and Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the presence of senior party leaders there.
After coming back from Delhi, Panda had informed media Wednesday night about the immersion of the ashes Thursday.
The immersion ceremony at Puri is a part of the ‘Atal Kalash Yatra’ organised by the saffron party in which the late BJP patriarch’s ashes will be immersed in rivers across the country.
Carrying the garlanded urn, wrapped in a red cloth, Panda had said Wednesday night, “We are honoured that our great leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Asthi Kalash has arrived at the Jagannath Ksehtra.”
The urn had been kept at BJP’s State Headquarters here for the public to pay their homage.
Prominent among the others, Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP Legislature Party Leader K V Singhdeo were a part of the immersion ceremony.