Bengal CM accepts proposal from his Odisha counterpart, changes name of Digha's Jagannath temple
Kolkata, June 8
West Bengal's Jagannath temple in Digha, East Midnapore district, will no longer be considered a 'Dham', one of the sacred pilgrimage sites of Hinduism. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced this on Tuesday, stating that the temple complex will now be known as 'Shri Sri Jagannath Cultural Centre'.
Adhikari said that BJP MP from Puri, Sambit Patra, had come as an envoy with a letter from Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
"The Chief Minister of Odisha has sent Puri MP Sambit Patra. He said that everyone wants a puja path. But the word 'Dham' is not compatible with traditional culture. Accepting the proposal of the Chief Minister of Odisha, we are removing the word 'Dham' from the Digha campus," Adhikari said.
He added that the cabinet had approved the change, with HIDCO tenders and government funds already sanctioned.
"Where the worship of Thakur is done, that structure will be known as the temple. It will be known as the Shri Jagannath Dev Temple," he said.
Adhikari clarified that worship in the Digha temple will follow the rules of Jagannath Dev worship in Indian culture and scriptures, conducted in a sattvic manner. Prasad will be served, and details of the Trust Committee will be made available on the temple's website.
Digha Jagannath Temple Trustee and Chief Priest Radharman Das welcomed the decision, saying: "We sincerely welcome this decision of the Hon'ble Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. He personally discussed this matter with me, and we are very happy that from now on this temple will be known as 'Digha Jagannath Temple'."
A few days earlier, Adhikari had visited the ISKCON temple in Mayapur and discussed the matter with Radharman. ISKCON is responsible for the puja at the Digha temple.
Criticising the previous Trinamool government, Adhikari said: "It is not right to write Dham in the name of the temple. I have seen the documents, and it was built as a cultural centre. The insult done to traditional culture by the previous government, this government will not do it."
Sambit Patra explained Odisha's objection: "According to the tradition of Sanatan, there are four Dhams. One of them is Jagannath Dham in Odisha, where Narayan resides. Adi Shankaracharya established four Dhams. So when Digha temple was built in 2025 and called Dham, not only four and a half crore Odia friends, but also devotees in Bengal were hurt."
Adhikari said, "You can't play with tradition like this." Sambit thanked him for accepting the Odisha Chief Minister's proposal, adding: "The new government respects tradition."
— IANS
Reader Comments
I am from Kolkata and visited Digha temple last year. The architecture is beautiful, but calling it 'Dham' felt like we were trying to compete with Puri. Good move by both CMs to maintain traditional integrity. But why was it built as a 'cultural centre' in the first place if everyone knew it was a temple? 🤔
Interesting diplomatic move between states. Shows that cultural sensitivity still matters in Indian politics. But spending tax money on renaming things seems unnecessary when infrastructure needs attention.
As someone from Odisha, I appreciate this gesture. Jagannath culture is deeply revered here - the four Dhams are sacred. But I wonder: if the previous TMC government 'insulted tradition' as CM claims, why didn't they fix it earlier? Politics aside, glad common sense prevailed. Jai Jagannath! 🙏
Can someone explain what exactly changes for devotees? Is it just the name on the board or the actual worship? Seems like a lot of political theater over semantics.
I'm glad the Chief Priest welcomed this. But isn't this just another case of politicians deciding what's 'traditional culture'? The temple was serving devotees fine as it was. Still, if both states agree, who am I to argue? Let's focus on making the Prasadam tastier! 😄
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.