Bhubaneswar, May 2: Amid growing controversy over the naming of the newly built Jagannath temple in Digha, West Bengal, as "Digha Jagannath Dham," senior Daitapati servitor of the Puri Jagannath Temple, Ramakrishna Das Mahapatra, issued a clarification on Thursday.

Addressing media persons, Mahapatra clarified that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is his disciple, and it was at her personal invitation that he attended the consecration ceremony of the Digha temple. He added that the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra at the Digha temple were carved from nimba (neem) wood, which he had brought from Puri specifically for the occasion.

Dispelling the notion that the sanctity of Puri could be replicated elsewhere, he asserted, “Jagannath Dham refers only to Puri. The sacred rituals of the Srimandir and the practice of Brahmasthapan—the installation of the divine soul—can only happen here.”

He emphasized that he never claimed to establish Brahma at Digha and dismissed recent national media reports suggesting otherwise, reiterating that no place can take the spiritual position of Puri.

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