West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who arrived in Digha in East Midnapore on Monday morning to attend the consecration ceremony of the newly constructed Jagannath Temple scheduled for Akshaya Tritiya on Wednesday, urged everyone to maintain unity, harmony and peace.
Before departing for Digha, 185 km from Kolkata, by helicopter from Howrah’s Dumurjala Stadium, the Chief Minister said, “I am going to Jagannath Dham. Everyone, stay well. Maintain unity, harmony, and peace among yourselves.”
According to temple sources, although the official inauguration of the Jagannath Temple in Digha is scheduled for Wednesday, various rituals including a Shanti Yagna (peace ritual) has already commenced several days earlier.
According to sources in the temple, a yajna has been ongoing at Digha’s Jagannath Temple with a Mahakund (great fire pit) set up amid four smaller fire pits since Thursday last. Lamps have been lit in the sanctum sanctorum to invoke the deities.
The ritual worship of Lord Jagannath’s seat has been completed, milk ablutions (dugdh snan) for the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra (Balaram), Subhadra, and Sudarshan have been performed, and the auspicious sound of the mangal sanai (a traditional ceremonial clarinet) echoes throughout Digha over loudspeakers.
Sources in the state secretariat confirmed that a Mahayagna (grand fire ritual) led by Rajesh Dayitapati from the Jagannath Temple in Puri is scheduled for Wednesday with Banerjee set to attend, while ISKCON vice-president Radha Raman Das and around 60 devotees from various ISKCON branches are also taking part in the ceremonies.
After reaching Digha at 11 am in the morning, the chief minister personally inspected the overall preparation for the consecration ceremony and gave necessary instruction to the police and temple management staff.
She was accompanied by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, and several cabinet ministers.
Considering the large gathering expected on the inaugural day, the district administration has arranged for heavy security with police confirming the deployment of 800 personnel around the temple and additional forces being brought in from neighbouring districts.
Moreover, traffic along National Highway 116B from Old Digha to New Digha near Jagannath Dham will be completely restricted from Monday to Wednesday.
