Bhubaneswar: King of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev is scheduled to visit Odisha on February 7, officials confirmed on Sunday.
The king is scheduled to visit Sri Jagannath temple in Puri, Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar and Sakhigopal temple in Puri district apart from attending some other programmes during his five-day long tour in the State. As per official sources, he will inaugurate the ‘Mission Wow Cow Goshala’ at Rathipur near Jatni on February 7 and offer prayer at Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar and Sakhigopal Temple in Puri district on Thursday.
As per the invitation of Puri Govardhan Peeth, the last Hindu monarch of the world will also attend a program commemorating the silver jubilee of ‘Pattabhisheka’ of Shankaracharya on February 9 and 10, the statement added. After a gap of ten years, the king will perform special ‘Arati’ atop Ratna Singhasan in Srimandir of Puri on February 11 before flying back home.
The king of Nepal has a unique right to perform the ritual inside the temple.
There is a deep spiritual tie between Odisha and Nepal as Adi Shankaracharya established the rites and rituals in both Jagannath temple of Puri and Pashupatinath temple in Nepal.