Bhubaneswar: West Bengal Leader of Opposition and senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has welcomed the steps taken by the Odisha government to investigate the controversies surrounding the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
Adhikari praised the initiative taken by Minister Prithviraj Harichandan to probe the questionable involvement of servitors and the unauthorized use of sacred wood from the Nabakalebara rituals.
Adhikari also criticized the West Bengal government’s “Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre” project in Digha, accusing them of attempting to exploit devotees’ faith by misrepresenting the project. He emphasized that the concept of a “Dham” in Hinduism refers to a sacred pilgrimage site, and the Jagannath Temple in Puri is a unique and revered site that cannot be replicated.
“The West Bengal Government have stooped to a new low with their deceitful tactics, officially labelling the Digha Project as the “Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre” in documents, but promoting it as a “Jagannath Temple” to mislead devotees and exploit their faith,” he stated in a letter.
The LoP demanded that the controversy surrounding the naming of the Digha project be addressed and the West Bengal government’s duplicity be exposed. He also called for an investigation into the roles played by certain individuals, including Daitapati Nijog Secretary Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra and Radharaman Das aka Rahul Yadav, who he alleged had caused insult to Jagannath culture and eroded the trust of devotees.
