Bhubaneswar: Puri’s Gajapati King Dibyasingha Deb, who chairs the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, has committed to addressing concerns surrounding the newly constructed Jagannath temple in Digha, West Bengal. The assurance follows a letter from noted sand sculptor and former committee member Sudarsan Pattnaik, highlighting controversies over the shrine.
The Odisha government has ordered an investigation into claims that surplus neem wood from the 2015 Nabakalebar rituals at Puri’s 12th-century Jagannath temple was used to craft idols for the Digha temple. The state’s Law Minister has directed the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief to probe the matter thoroughly.
Reports initially suggested that a senior Daitapati servitor from Puri Ramakrushna Dasmahapatra, who attended the Digha temple’s inauguration, claimed the sacred wood was used. The servitor later denied these statements, asserting they were misrepresented or edited, and clarified that neem wood idols were consecrated at the Digha shrine without specifying their origin.
Further controversy has arisen over the naming of the Digha temple as Jagannath Dham, a title devotees argue is reserved exclusively for the Puri temple according to Hindu traditions. The issue has sparked discontent among devotees, prompting calls for clarity and corrective measures.
