Puri, May 22: The holy shrine of Sri Jagannath should not be transformed into a land of luxury, said Puri Shankarachaya on Sunday.

Opening up on the Sri Mandir Parikrama Project on his arrival at Puri after a longish absence,the Sheer said that the safety and security of the temple should be the top priority for the authorities before taking up some development projects.

After visiting the sites excavated under the Sri Mandir Parikrama Project in the morning,the Jagadguru said that whoever the executing agency is he should perform the work with a devotion in his heart for the Trinity and the holiness of the shrine.The government should also take care of the aspects so that no harm will  come up for the temple and other spiritual monuments in future.

However, he expressed his discontent over the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration(SJTA) as they had sought no opinion before taking up excavation work under the project.

There are special directives and guidelines for undertaking beautification work of shrines which should be followed and strictly adhered to. The repositories of literature in this regard should be referred before beginning some developments around it, the Sheer added.