First 2026–27 pilgrimage under the state scheme links Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur with Puri
BHUBANESWAR: For 910 senior citizens from three districts of southern Odisha, September 20 marked the beginning of a journey that goes beyond ordinary travel. Their destination is Puri, and the purpose is a long-awaited darshan of Lord Jagannath under the state government’s Shri Jagannath Darshan Yojana.
Deputy Chief Minister and Tourism Minister Pravati Parida virtually flagged off the first pilgrimage of the 2026–27 cycle on Sunday. The first group comprises 490 beneficiaries from Malkangiri, 210 from Koraput and another 210 from Nabarangpur.
The significance of the first journey lies in the geography as much as in the destination. For elderly residents living far from Puri, a pilgrimage to Srikshetra can involve considerable distance, transport requirements and physical challenges. The scheme attempts to address those practical barriers through an organised travel system.
The Tourism Department and Odisha State Road Transport Corporation are jointly implementing the programme. Under the arrangement, beneficiaries are brought from their gram panchayats to district headquarters before continuing towards Puri in dedicated buses.
Safety and health have been built into the journey structure. Each bus is accompanied by three escort personnel and a paramedical staff member, with responsibility for assisting passengers and monitoring their health during the trip.
The first phase has been planned as a much larger operation. From September 20 through October 26, 10,434 pilgrims from 13 districts are scheduled to travel to Puri. The wider scheme has a long-term target of facilitating Jagannath darshan for one lakh senior citizens, while arrangements are being made for 30,000 eligible beneficiaries during the current year.
The programme is not limited to transportation. The package includes health check-ups, vegetarian meals, kit bags and arrangements associated with the pilgrims’ stay and temple visit. The official operational guidelines describe the scheme as a mechanism to provide organised, safe and comfortable pilgrimage opportunities to economically weaker senior citizens and eligible widows.
That makes implementation particularly important.
A scheme involving thousands of elderly pilgrims across multiple districts requires coordination between local administrations, transport authorities, health personnel, accommodation providers and tourism officials. The quality of that coordination will determine how smoothly the pilgrimage experience works for beneficiaries.
The first departure from Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur also gives the programme a distinctly regional dimension. These districts are geographically distant from coastal Odisha, yet their residents are being brought into a state-supported pilgrimage network centred on Puri.
The government had allocated ₹30 crore for the Shri Jagannath Darshan Yojana in the 2025–26 state budget, while the scheme’s formal operational guidelines were notified in November 2025.
For the elderly pilgrims now travelling towards Srikshetra, however, the policy figures are secondary to the experience of reaching the temple safely and comfortably.
The first journey therefore becomes an early test of whether a statewide pilgrimage programme can combine religious access with organised public service—particularly for beneficiaries for whom distance, age or financial limitations might otherwise make the journey difficult.
As the first batch makes its way towards Puri, the larger programme has already moved from policy documents to the road.
Global Times News | INDIA ; GTNS
SEPTEMBER 20, 2026