Kolkata/Bhubaneeswar, Jun 9 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday announced the state government will remove the insignia ‘Dham’ from the state-funded Lord Jagannath Temple and cultural activity premises in Digha, which was inaugurated by former CM Mamata Banerjee in April last year.
The premises will now be called ‘Sri Sri Jagannath Cultural Centre’ and the deities of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, at the temple within the premises, will be worshipped in accordance with prescribed norms and rituals, Adhikari said.
The decision was taken in the wake of a formal request for removal of the tag made by the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Adhikari said.
Responding to the development that took place a month after the BJP came to power in West Bengal, Majhi expressed his gratitude to Adhikari for the “prompt and tradition-loving step”.
The official request from him was delivered to Adhikari by Sambit Patra, BJP’s MP in Lok Sabha from Puri, who acted as an emissary of the Odisha CM.
Adhikari said he spoke to the ISKCON monks recently about the name of the temple complex of Lord Jagannath in Digha, and was convinced that it was not named in accordance with the Sanatani culture and tradition of India.
“We will remove the word ‘Dham’ from the complex and worship the deities strictly in accordance with the prescribed sanatani norms,” Adhikari said, referring to his recent visit to the ISKCON headquarters at Mayapur in Nadia district.
“The temple structure would henceforth be called Sri Sri Jagannath Dev Mandir,” the CM added.
Adhikari said that the cabinet resolution and the subsequent tender notices for constructing the premises of the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee government called the project a ‘cultural centre’ with no provision for the word ‘Dham’ in it, indicating that the word was added as an afterthought.
“There were debates on the word right from the beginning, and the previous government had insulted Sanatani sentiments by including it,” Adhikari said, adding that he has directed the chief secretary to issue the necessary notification and apprise the Trust managing the premises about the change.
Patra said that countless devotees of Lord Jagannath all over the globe, including 4.5 crore Odiyas, were anguished at the naming of the Digha temple complex, which reflected an attitude of “toying with Hindu sentiments” by the previous TMC government.
“As per the Sanatan Dharma, Adi Shankaracharya established the four sacred pilgrimage sites or Char Dham in Hinduism, of which the original Jagannath Temple in Puri is one. There is no provision in our ancient tradition to add to those sites,” Patra said.
The BJP MP welcomed the idea of building another site of worship of Lord Jagannath in Bengal by the earlier Mamata Banerjee government.
The Jagannath Dham temple complex, conceived as a deliberate architectural homage to the iconic 12th-century Jagannath Temple of Puri and aiming to serve as its near-replica in both scale and style, was inaugurated by Mamata Banerjee on April 30, 2025.
“This decision (of the West Bengal government) will further strengthen the brotherhood and cultural harmony between the two neighbouring states while safeguarding the Odia ‘asmita’ and glory of Lord Jagannath,” Majhi said in an X post.
He described Lord Jagannath as the “soul” of the entire world and the greatest symbol of India’s cultural and spiritual identity.
Majhi also attacked the TMC, asserting that the name ‘Jagannath Dham’ was misused by the previous West Bengal government for the Digha project due to its ignorance of Sanatani traditions.
“There was an attempt to replicate Puri Dham to mislead people. Anyway, the matter is now settled. I appreciate the prompt decision of the West Bengal chief minister,” said Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, under whose department the Puri Jagannath temple functions.
Odisha’s opposition BJD, however, said, ”What had happened in the past and what is happening now, all are at the wishes of Lord Jagannath. The credit goes only to the Lord Jagannath, the master of this universe.” Odisha’s ruling BJP, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration of Puri and the servitors of the 12th century shrine also thanked the West Bengal chief minister for the decision to remove ‘Dham’ from the Digha temple’s name.
Spreading over 20 acres at Bengal’s coastal town of Digha in Purba Medinipur district, a popular seaside getaway for Bengalis, it was built at an estimated cost of Rs 250 crore from the state exchequer.
Gaining immense popularity as a spiritual destination, the complex registered a footfall of over 1.3 crore — averaging roughly 50,000 visitors daily and significantly higher numbers on weekends and festival days — in its first year of existence, as per figures posted by the managing trust.
Besides the naming dispute, the inauguration of the Digha temple premises was accompanied by additional controversies, particularly from sections of the servitor community associated with the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, who issued formal directives barring their members from taking part in rituals at the Digha temple. PTI SMY AAM NN
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