Bhubaneswar: There is a famous temple of Lord Jagannath in Odisha. Thousands of devotees come here daily. In West Bengal too, a Jagannath temple has been built in Digha.
The new temple has been built at a cost of Rs 250 crore on a 24-acre plot in Digha in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, about 350 km from Puri. Like the Puri Temple, the Digha temple is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Goddess Mahalaxmi.
The new temple has been depicted as Jagannath Dham. Regarding this, the priests and devotees of Lord Jagannath temple in Odisha have protested and demanded the removal of the word Jagannath Dham from the temple.
Ramkrishna Dasmohapatra, who was the chief priest during the inauguration of the Jagannath temple in Digha, had also demanded the removal of the word 'Jagannath Dham' associated with the new temple in West Bengal.
While talking to the media, Ramkrishna said, 'I also request West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to remove the word 'Dham' from the Digha Jagannath temple. I also urge the Odisha government and the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration to hold talks on this matter. In my understanding, Puri is the only place called 'Jagannath Dham'. He said that he would write a letter to Mamata Banerjee in this regard.
Mamata should explain why she called Digha temple Dham: Odisha Deputy CM
Odisha Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo said that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is aware of this development. Dev said, 'I have limited knowledge and I am not as intelligent as Mamata Banerjee. I know that there are four 'Dhams' in India. She should explain why she called the Digha temple 'Dham'. There may be many Jagannath temples in the country, but Puri is the only Jagannath 'Dham'.'
Former member of the Sri Jagannath Temple Management Committee Madhab Mahapatra appealed to Banerjee to refrain from making such a "false claim".
Religious sentiments of crores of devotees have been hurt: Sudarshan Patnaik
Famous sand artist and Padma Shri awardee Sudarshan Patnaik has sought clarification from Mamata Banerjee on the matter. He has accused Banerjee of hurting the religious sentiments of crores of devotees of Lord Jagannath around the world. After the inauguration of the Jagannath temple in Digha, Banerjee had called it a 'dham'. Patnaik said that according to our holy scriptures there is only one 'Jagannath Dham', which is located in Puri. Linking any other temple to this name can create confusion.