Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday reviewed the construction of Lord Jagannath temple at Digha in East Midnapore along with a few monks and vice president of Kolkata ISKCON Radharaman Das.
Talking to the media, Mamata said that after completion of the work the temple will be inaugurated on April 30 on the day of Akshaya Tritiya and also that the process of the inauguration will start 48 hours before the inauguration.
Mamata also mentioned that the West Bengal government had spent around Rs 250 crore so far for the project.
“I would like to thank the engineers of HIDCO for making such a good work. This temple will attract tourists from across the globe. This temple will be there for thousands of years. I will give a ‘golden broom’ from my personal account that will be manufactured by ISKCON. From next year Ratha Yatra will be performed from Digha’s Jagannath temple,” said Mamata.
The Chief Minister also announced the formation of a trustee board headed by the Chief Secretary and others including ISKCON that will look after the operations of the temple.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari slammed Mamata Banerjee for calling the Jagannath temple of Digha to be like Puri Jagannath temple.
“Jagannath dham is part of char dham. This is an insult to Lord Jagannath. She did the temple as she knows that the Hindus here are uniting and won’t give her vote in the 2026 state Assembly elections. The state government cannot spend money on religious works,” said Adhikari.
The Leader of Opposition also upped his ante against ISKCON Kolkata vice president Radharaman Das for being present at the Digha ISKCON temple and allegedly allowing Mamata Banerjee to compare Puri Jagannath temple with Digha Jagannath temple.
Das, however, said that ISKCON always works to serve God and also that ISKCON is a ‘non-political’ organization.
