Overview
- West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Tuesday that the state will drop the word “Dham” from the Digha Jagannath complex and reclassify the site as a cultural centre and temple.
- Adhikari asked Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal to issue an official notification and directed the managing trust to comply so the premises will be known as a Sri Sri Jagannath Cultural Centre and the temple as Sri Sri Jagannath Dev Mandir.
- The decision followed a formal request from Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who argued that the title “Jagannath Dham” is uniquely associated with Puri and had hurt devotees’ sentiments.
- ISKCON trustees and several servitors welcomed the renaming and the assurance that worship at the Digha temple will continue under prescribed Sanatan rituals.
- The move ends the naming row over the state-funded 20-acre complex inaugurated in April 2025 and may ease interstate cultural tensions while leaving broader questions about ritual authority and political uses of religious projects unresolved.