Bhubaneswar, April 29 (IANS): The "daru" (neem tree) for making Lord Jagannath idol has been identified at a Odisha district, a Jagannath temple administration official said on Wednesday.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief Suresh Mohapatra said the sacred wood has been identified at Kharipada in Jagatsinghpur district.

The neem trees to make the idols of Lord Balabhadra and Godess Subhadra were also identified in the same district.

Mohapatra said the district administration is working on levelling the place so that the devotees can have an easy access.

The place where the "daru" has been located is narrow and situated on the bank of the river that needs developing necessary infrastructure for traffic management and other works.

"We have to level the land first and create additional space for Sabarapalli and jajna mandap. We are trying to complete the work as early as possible to facilitate the devotees who would throng the area in large numbers," said Mohapatra.

While the district administration has already put up barricades around the neem tree, around six platoons of police have been deployed to manage the crowd, said Jagatsinghpur district collector Satya Kumar Mallick.

Thousands of people are thronging the site to take a glimpse and blessing of the sacred tree, which will be used for making Lord Jagannath's idol ahead of Nabakalbar festival scheduled to be held at Puri in July this year.