Puri/Digha: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee participated in a maha yajna on Tuesday ahead of the formal inauguration of a Jagannath Temple at seaside tourist town of Digha on Wednesday.
“Today’s Dhwaja Uttolana and Maha Yajna set the tone for tomorrow’s Prana Pratishtha, as the Jagannath Temple in Digha prepares to welcome the Lord of the Universe to His sanctified abode,” Mamata wrote on X along with pictures from the ceremony.
A moment to be cherished for eternity.
Today’s Dhwaja Uttolana and Maha Yajna set the tone for tomorrow’s Prana Pratishtha, as the Jagannath Temple in Digha prepares to welcome the Lord of the Universe to His sanctified abode.
Joy Jagannath
pic.twitter.com/gEpSlM1lf7 — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 29, 2025
The newly-built shrine, a replica of the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri, has been built over 24 acres at a cost of Rs 250 crore. However, idols at Digha have been sculpted from stone instead of neem wood, also known as Darubrahma’, as is the case with the shrine in Puri, which is one of four ‘Dhams’ (most sacred places of pilgrimage for Hindus) in India.
Servitors from the Puri Jagannath Temple have also been invited to participate in the consecration ceremony on the auspicious occasion of the ‘Akshay Trithiya’ at Digha.
“This temple will become an international destination of tourism. It is the pride of Bengal and the country. It has beautiful architecture. Servitors from Jagannath Temple in Puri and priests and monks from various other temples and organisations, including Dakshineshwar Kali Temple and ISKCON, have come,” Mamata later told reporters.
While welcoming the inauguration of the temple, president of Suar Mahasuar Nijog of Puri Jagannath Temple, Padmanava Mahasuar, stressed the need to preserve the culture and rituals of the 12th-century temple. “The decision to inaugurate a new temple is welcome, people should go there…but the culture and rituals of the original temple should be preserved. The cooking methods and traditions are distinctive to Puri temple and should exclusively stay so,” he asserted while speaking to ANI.
He also mentioned that an advisory has been issued to servitors of Puri shrine and they cannot work in any other temple.
Servitors of the Nijog prepare Mahaprasad at Puri Jagannath Temple. Earlier, It had warned its members against cooking bhog for the inauguration of the new temple at Digha. The breach of the directive could lead to expulsion from the 12th-century shrine and permanent exclusion from serving in the Puri Nijog, it had said.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has also endorsed the Suar Mahasuar Nijog’s stand.