Bhubaneswar: The authorities of Jagannath temple at Odisha’s Puri town have submitted a report in connection with the controversies surrounding the newly-built shrine at Digha in West Bengal to the state government.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief Arabinda Padhee submitted the interim report to Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan at Lok Seva Bhawan in the capital city here today.

The state government had earlier directed the SJTA to conduct a probe into the controversies surrounding the newly-established temple at Digha.

There were media reports that the newly-built temple was named as Jagannath Dham and its idols were constructed form the surplus neem wood (sacred Daru) from the Nabakalebar rituals at Puri Jagannath temple. Besides, some servitors of the 12th century shrine had attended the inaugural ceremony of the Digha temple.

These issues had created widespread resentment among the people in Odisha as well as devotees of Lord Jagannath.

As per the Hindu tradition, Odisha’s Puri town is known as Jagannath Dham, one among ‘Char Dhams’ in the country. So, no other shrine or place can be named as Jagannath Dham, argued the devotees.   

After facing criticisms from several quarters, the authorities in West Bengal have removed the word ‘Dham’ from the temple signboard.

Despite this, the Odisha government has decided to raise the issue with the Bengal government. “We will write a letter to the West Bengal government asking it to remove ‘Dham’ word from Digha shrine. We will also ask them not to call Digha sea as Mahodadhi,” said the Law Minister.

In its interim report, the SJTA has clearly stated that no sacred neem wood from Puri temple was used for the creation of idols at Digha temple.

“The surplus neem wood from 2015 Nabakalebar rituals have been stored in a room at Puri temple. However, some wood from the 1996 Nabakalebar rituals have been kept at the residences of a few Daitapati servitors. The SJTA will take immediate steps to bring the wood to Srimandir,” said the report.

As per the report, the traditions of Puri Jagannath temple have barred the servitors of the shrine to conduct rituals at other religious institutions. However, the servitors are allowed to attend religious ceremonies as guests.

“The SJTA will soon issue a detailed SOP for the servitors to avoid similar controversy in the future,” said the report.