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The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Digha's Jagannath Temple inauguration is TMC's Ram Temple moment
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led administration is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the inauguration of Jagannath Temple, built at a cost of ₹250 crore, in West Bengal's coastal town of Digha on Wednesday (April 30, 2025) is a grand success. The Trinamool chairperson arrived in the tourist town in Purba Medinipur district a day earlier and has been personally supervising the last-minute arrangements for Wednesday's 'Prana Pratistha (consecration ceremony)' for which invitations have been extended to top State officials, industry captains, religious heads of almost every Hindu order in West Bengal, apart from senior Trinamool leaders. The town has been decked up with lights and yellow 'Jai Jagannath' flags, and a devotional song praising Lord Jagannath, composed by the Chief Minister, is being played at every intersection. The party leadership has been directed to ensure that the consecration ceremony is livestreamed on giant screens in every locality of the State. AI-generated profile pictures of most of the TMC leaders have flooded social media. In the highly polarised political landscape of West Bengal, the Jagannath Temple is the ruling party's answer to the allegations of being 'fake-Hindu' levelled at it by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 'Jai Jagannath' is going to be the Trinamool's answer to the BJP's war cry of'Jai Shri Ram'. The much-awaited inauguration of the temple, a replica of the shrine in Puri, is, in other words, the Trinamool's Ram Temple moment. 'Soft Hindutva' While Ms. Banerjee has renovated temples in the past and installed skywalks at Kolkata's famous Kalighat and Dakshineswar temples, the inauguration of Jagannath Temple makes a further push at burnishing the Trinamool's 'soft Hindutva' credentials. The party, which awards a monthly honorarium to imams and muezzins and awards incentives worth hundreds of crores every year to Durga Puja committees in the State, has never shied away from mixing religion with politics. With the temple in Digha, the TMC wants to take on the BJP at its own game by building its support base among Hindus while offsetting religious polarisation. The construction of the temple also provides direct evidence of 'competitive communalism' of the ruling party and the BJP, which the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has been accusing both parties of for the past several years. Even as the Chief Minister inaugurates the mega temple, built over 20 acres, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari will launch a parallel drive to renovate temples damaged during the riots in Murshidabad. Temple wars The temple wars between the Trinamool and the BJP could not have come at a worse time. Nearly three weeks ago, West Bengal witnessed one of its worst episodes of communal riots, which claimed three lives and left hundreds homeless. The Dhulian and Samserganz areas of Murshidabad are still tense, even as over 300 have been arrested for their alleged role in the violence. The clashes left a deep scar not only on those who suffered them first-hand, but also on the psyche of West Bengal's public at large, which firmly holds that the State's foundations were laid on the ideals of fraternity and brotherhood. 2026 election Senior leaders of the BJP, which lost the 2021 Assembly election to the Trinamool despite a high-pitch campaign, have been saying that all they need to come to power in the 2026 poll is an additional 5% of the Hindu community's votes. The Trinamool Congress hopes to win over the community ahead of next year's election by bringing Lord Jagannath from Puri to West Bengal.
The Hindu
28-04-2025
- The Hindu
Digha gets ready for grand Jagannath temple inauguration
Digha, a coastal town in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, has been decked up for the inauguration of Lord Jagannath temple, which will be similar to the famous shrine in Puri. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the ₹250-crore temple, built on 20 acres of land, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ms. Banerjee arrived in Digha on Monday and visited the temple twice during the day taking stock of the preparations. Tourist attraction 'This temple will add a new feather to Digha's tourism [cap] and will be recognised at the international level. Significant development work has been carried out in Digha. The new face of Digha is already attracting more tourists,' the Chief Minister said. The Trinamool Congress chairperson emphasised on 'Shorbo Dhormo Somonnoy' religious harmony and said that the temple will emerge as a confluence of spirituality and harmony. 'Today, I visited Digha to personally review the preparations for the temple's inauguration and the grand Mahayajna. Necessary instructions have been issued to ensure seamless arrangements for all devotees arriving from across Bengal and beyond. Let us come together to celebrate this sacred milestone in our collective journey,' Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on X. Digha is an important tourist destination in the State and the Chief Minister emphasised that the town had a charm of its own as it was on the coast. 'Now, if it becomes a place of pilgrimage, more tourists will come. I think the sculptors have done a splendid job,' she said. The official invitation said that the temple will host Maha Yajna ahead of Prana Pratistha (consecration ceremony) on Tuesday and Wednesday (on the occasion of Akshay Trithiya) and the inauguration ceremony will commence at 2.30 p.m. The Chief Minister came up with the idea of the temple in December 2018 and the work on it started in May 2022. The temple is a replica of the 12th-century world famous shrine in Puri and its inauguration has been a much-awaited event. The coastal town has been painted blue and white — the colours of West Bengal government — and all roads leading to the temple have been illuminated with decorative lights. Promoted as Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra by the West Bengal government, the temple has been developed by Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO). Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP raised a question as to whether 'Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra' (cultural center) was being inaugurated or Jagannath Temple. 'The tender documents of West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation reveal that Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra has been built at Digha? ...You must reprint the invitation card with proper clarity. You can also send me a reply clarifying whether HIDCO has built a Temple or a Cultural Centre,' Mr. Adhikari said. The BJP leader said that on April 30, his party would start the rebuilding and restoration work of the 'vandalised Hindu temples of the Murshidabad district' and added that funds would not be sought or received from the Mamata Banerjee government. Riots broke out in Murshidabad on April 11 and 12 in which three persons were killed and hundreds were rendered homeless. Ms. Banerjee is likely to visit Murshidabad after the Digha temple inauguration.
India Today
27-04-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Temple or cultural centre? BJP questions Bengal's Jagannath Dham project
The West Bengal BJP on Sunday posed a series of questions to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government over the construction of a Puri-like Jagannath temple, reigniting a political controversy ahead of its of the Opposition in Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, wrote an open letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, seeking clarification on whether a Jagannath temple or a cultural centre was being built at pointed out that the invitation card for the opening ceremony lacked clarity and stated that he would attend the event only if his concerns were raised concerns about whether a 'Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra' was being constructed at Digha, as indicated in the invitation. Referring to his invitation to the 'Prana Pratishtha' ceremony, he questioned whether the event was for a cultural centre or a temple. He demanded that the invitation card be reissued with "clear and accurate information".advertisement"The tender documents of West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation reveal that 'Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra' has been built at Digha? You are inviting me to attend the 'Prana Pratistha' Ceremony. Will you clarify whether 'Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra' (cultural centre) is being inaugurated or Jagannath Temple is being inaugurated? You must reprint the Invitation Card with proper clarity. You can also send me a reply clarifying whether HIDCO has built a Temple or a Cultural Centre," he the BJP leader questioned whether the maintenance, management and upkeep of the 'Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra' or Jagannath Temple will be handled by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO). Adhikari is the Vice Chairperson of the board. He also sought clarification on the identity of the chairperson of WBHIDCO, as the website lists 'Janab Firhad Hakim', Urban Development Minister, in the role. If that is indeed the case, he questioned why Hakim's name was not printed on the further enquired about Hakim's involvement with the structure under construction, pointing to media rumours suggesting that he had been removed from his position as chairperson without ceremony. If this were true, he asked, 'Why is Firhad Hakim's name still listed as the HIDCO Chairman?'A series of questions were raised regarding the donations, specifically whether they would be considered "temple property" or treated as part of the corporation's revenue. Adhikari also enquired about the staff appointments, asking about the qualifications required to become a staff member and whether non-Hindus would be considered for an attempt to ignite a religious debate, he posed his final question, stating that if Digha's Jagannath Dham was modelled after the Puri Jagannath Dham, then, according to the latter's rules, the entry of non-Hindus would be his statement, he asked, 'Since the WB Government or HIDCO (a Public Sector Undertaking) controls the site, can it discriminate when appointing individuals based on religion?'In December last year, Adhikari had questioned the construction, saying the Jagannath Temple in Puri was one of the Char Dhams and "replicating" it was unacceptable. He argued that public funds should not be used for constructing religious sites. IN THIS STORY#West Bengal
