Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has secured intellectual property protection for several key terms and logos associated with the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri, a senior official said on Wednesday.
SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Kumar Padhee said the authorities have received confirmation from Intellectual Property India regarding the registration of intellectual property for terms including “Ananda Bazar”, “Shree Patita Paban” and “Shree Jagannath Temple Administration” (SJTA), along with related logos.
“We have secured intellectual property registration of some key words and logos associated with the Puri Jagannath temple. These include Ananda Bazar, Shree Patita Paban and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA). We have received confirmation in this regard from the Intellectual Property India,” Padhee told reporters.
He said the temple administration has also applied for intellectual property protection for 26 additional terms linked to the shrine. According to Padhee, Intellectual Property India has sought further details regarding these terms and the administration is confident of securing registration for them as well.
The move is aimed at preventing the unauthorised use of names, symbols and identities associated with the revered shrine, one of Hinduism’s most important pilgrimage centres.
Earlier, the SJTA had announced plans to seek intellectual property registration for several terms traditionally associated with the Puri temple, including “Srimandir”, “Jagannath Dham”, “Mahaprasad”, the Srimandir logo, “Shrikshetra” and “Purushottam Dham”.
The initiative gained momentum following a controversy last year over the naming of a newly constructed Jagannath temple at Digha in West Bengal. The shrine was named “Jagannath Dham”, triggering objections from devotees and religious groups, who argued that the term has historically been associated with the Puri temple.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi yesterday wrote to the West Bengal government, urging it to remove the word “Dham” from the name of the Digha temple.
Subsequently, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday that necessary steps would be taken to drop the word “Dham” from the shrine’s name.
Temple officials said the intellectual property registrations are part of broader efforts to preserve the unique religious, cultural and historical identity of the Puri Jagannath Temple and to prevent misuse of names and symbols intrinsically linked to the shrine.
