Dham row: SJTA issues another show cause notice to Puri servitor for attending Digha temple event

Hindustan Times

09-05-2025

Puri , The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration on Friday issued another show cause notice to senior servitor Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, asking him to explain the reason behind his active participation in the consecration ceremony of the Jagannath temple at Digha in West Bengal.
Dasmohapatra, the secretary of the Daitapati Nijog , was among over 55 servitors of the Puri temple, who participated in the inaugural session of the Digha temple.
Dasmohapatra was seen in photographs and videos taking a lead role in performing rituals at the Digha temple in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Digha temple was inaugurated on Akshaya Tritiya on April 30.
"The pictures and videos of Dasmohapatra participating in the inauguration programme of the Sri Jagannath Temple in Digha and leading the group of servitors have been widely circulated in various media. It has come to our attention that during the inauguration of the Digha temple, a plaque was put up to this effect with the inscription 'Jagannath Dham-Digha'," the notice mentioned.
Stating that Puri is the holy abode of the supreme deity Sri Purusottam Jagannath, the notice said that according to scriptures, it is one of the most important 'dhams' among the four 'dhams' of India.
"Despite being aware of this as a senior servitor of Lord Jagannath temple, his participation in the inaugural session of the Digha temple has created confusion among the devotees regarding the tradition of the temple and has hurt the religious sentiments of countless Shri Jagannath devotees," the notice said.
Therefore, the SJTA wanted to know as to why did he participated in a programme titled 'Jagannath Dham-Digha' as a senior servitor of the 12th century shrine in Puri.
"Whether you had protested before the Digha Temple Trust Board opposing the mention of 'dham' in the plaque," the notice asked.
The fresh show cause notice asked Dasmohapatra to submit an explanation to the SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Padhee, who is a senior IAS officer, within two days of receiving the notice.
"If a satisfactory explanation is not received within this time, action will be taken under the Sri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955," the notice said.
Earlier, Dasmohapatra was issued the first show cause notice and questioned by the SJTA for 90 minutes after he claimed before a Bengali television channel that he had brought the sacred wood from the Puri temple and crafted the idols for the Digha temple.
However, later, Odisha's Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan had clarified that Dasmohapatra had lied to the Bengali TV channel.
"The idols for Digha temple were crafted by a carpenter at Bhubaneswar by using simple neem wood and not the sacred wood from the Puri temple," the minister said.
Earlier, the use of word 'dham' by the temple at Digha was strongly opposed by the Odisha government, Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth, Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth and many devotees.