Nepal King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev will visit Jagannath temple in Puri on Sunday. The shrine will remain out of bounds for devotees for three hours from 9 am to facilitate the visit of the last Hindu monarch of Nepal Indian Media reports.

General darshan for devotees will be allowed after 12 noon.

Dev will visit the 12th-century shrine where he will have the special privilege of performing the 'aarati' of the deity atop the Ratna Singhasan inside the sanctum sanctorum.

According to news Odisha, as per the age-old tradition, the royal family members of Nepal are given special privilege at the 12th shrine and allowed to ascend the Ratna Vedi (the holy altar on which Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan are placed) and offer prayers and perform aarati.

The king of Puri Gajapati Dibya Singh Deb and Shree Jaganath Temple Administration (SJTA) Pradeep Kumar Jena along with shrine servitors’ body will receive the king at the shrine.

Upon his arrival in Odisha on Wednesday, he joined the International Gau Sambardhana Mahostyav and laid the foundation stone for a Go Mata Mandira at Rathipur near Jatni on Wednesday. On Thursday, he visited Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar and Gopinath (Krishna) temple at Sakhigopal in Puri district.

On Friday he arrived at Puri to be part of the celebrations marking the “Pattabhisheka” of the Shaknkarcharya. He will return from the State on February 12.

Dev also attended the silver jubilee celebrations of ‘Pattabhisheka’ of Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati at the Gobardhan Math on Thursday and Friday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik attended the closing event today at the Gobardhan Math and sought the blessings of the Shankaracharya. King of Puri Gajapati Dibya Singh Deb also attended the spiritual discourse.

 Temple administrator (rituals) Pradeep Das said: "The king enjoys exclusive rights and privileges of performing aarti of Lord Jagannath atop the Ratna Singhasan (Golden Throne)." He also enjoys a special right to touch the idols of the Holy Trinity.

He said: "Prior to Gyanendra's visit, Puri Gajapati Dibya Singh Dev will perform the puja before accompanying the former Nepal monarch to the sanctum sanctorum."

Jagannath temple to remain shut for devotees for 3 hours tomorrow during Nepal King's visit