Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, along with his disciples, paid obeisance to the idols on their respective chariots.
Chief Secretary A K Tripathy and Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay rushed to the pilgrim town to make the necessary arrangements. "The DGP and I are rushing to Puri to take stock of the situation as per the direction of the chief minister. We will camp there," Tripathy said.