West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee chairs a high-level assembly for Smooth Snan Yatra at Digha Jagannath Temple, at Nabanna Sabhaghar in Howrah on June 12. (ANI)
“Around 300 kilos of khoa (a candy), which was provided to the deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram and Goddess Subhadra – was despatched to all of the districts in West Bengal in small quantities. There they had been combined with further khoa in choose sweetshops to make peda and gaja. These are being delivered to greater than 10.4 million households on the doorsteps,” Radharamn Das, vice-president and spokesman of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Kolkata, instructed HT.
However, a contemporary controversy has erupted over the federal government’s initiative of distributing prasad from the temple. Earlier this yr a collection of controversies had been triggered when the temple, a brainchild of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was inaugurated on April 30.
On June 10, round 300 kilos of khoa (a candy), provided by a Kolkata-based producer, reached the temple in refrigerated containers. Dozens of monks obtained the khoa, which was then provided to the trinity deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram and Goddess Subhadra.
“The providing (khoa) was then despatched to the districts the place extra sweets had been added to extend their quantity and two sorts of sweets had been made. They had been packed and at the moment are being delivered to the households by ration sellers,” mentioned Das.
The door-to-door supply of the prasad began from June 17 and is more likely to proceed until July 4. The state authorities is taking the assistance of its big community of ration retailers and ration sellers to ship the prasad on the door-step of 10.4 million households.
“In 2021 the state authorities launched the Duare Ration scheme, by means of which subsidised meals grains are delivered on the door steps of the beneficiaries. More than 22,000 ration sellers are concerned on this. This whole community is now being utilised to ship the prasad on the door steps,” mentioned Biswambhar Basu, nationwide common secretary of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers’ Federation.
Each packet will include two sweets (peda and gaja) and a photograph of the temple and the trinity deities. Each packet will value round ₹20, a senior official mentioned.
Suvendu Adhikari, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator and chief of the opposition within the state legislative meeting, nevertheless, alleged that the TMC-led authorities was hurting the feelings of Hindus.
“The authorities is hurting the feelings of Hindus within the title of distributing prasad. This is just not prasad as it’s not coming immediately from any temple. These are sweets manufactured in native candy retailers. True Hindus won’t settle for it as a prasad. They will settle for it solely as sweets from the native store. This is an anti-Hindu authorities,” Adhikari instructed the media.
On April 30, whereas chatting with the media on the temple’s inauguration day, Banerjee had mentioned: “I’m giving duty to the state Information and Cultural Affairs (I&CA) division. A photograph of the temple and a small quantity of prasad needs to be delivered to each home throughout the state and likewise to eminent individuals throughout the nation.”
A senior official, nevertheless, identified that when the federal government issued the order for the prasad to be delivered by ration sellers, the phrase ‘prasad’ was changed by ‘memento’.
“It has been determined {that a} token memento in reference to the ‘Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre’ (Digha) will probably be distributed to the households of the state by utilising the ‘Duare Ration’ supply system,” mentioned the order issued by the I&CA division earlier this month.
While Banerjee is the state I&CA minister, Indranil Sen is the minister of state. Multiple calls made to Sen went unanswered. He didn’t reply to particular whatsapp messages both.
“These initiatives by Banerjee are nothing however an try to counter the BJP’s Hindutva marketing campaign. But whereas on one hand the federal government is asking it a temple and a dham, on paper they’re saying it’s a cultural centre. Also, they aren’t utilizing the phrase prasad, they’re calling it a memento. Duare Ration scheme is availed not simply by The Hindus, however by different communities additionally. This could harm their sentiments as properly,” mentioned Rabindranath Bhattacharya, professor of political science at Burdwan University.
The BJP, in the meantime, has already raised allegations that non-Hindus are getting used to ship the prasad to Hindu households in some areas.
This is, nevertheless, not the primary time {that a} controversy has erupted over the Jagannath temple. The “temple” tag itself triggered a serious controversy forward of the inauguration when the BJP had raised questions on how funds from the federal government exchequer can be utilized for setting up any establishment for a selected faith.
Days earlier than the “temple” was inaugurated, Adhikari wrote an open letter to the state’s chief secretary HK Dwivedi in search of clarification on whether or not it was a “temple” or a “cultural centre”
“The tender paperwork of West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation reveal that ‘Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra’ has been constructed at Digha? You are inviting me to attend the ‘Prana Pratistha’ Ceremony. Will you make clear whether or not “Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra” (cultural middle) is being inaugurated or Jagannath Temple is being inaugurated? You should reprint the Invitation Card with correct readability. You also can ship me a reply clarifying whether or not HIDCO has constructed a Temple or a Cultural Centre,” Adhikari wrote on X on April 27.
The newly constructed temple additionally grew to become a bone of competition between the TMC-led authorities in West Bengal and the BJP-led authorities in Odisha, which homes the twelfth century Jagannath Dham in Puri. Mohan Majhi, chief minister of Odisha additionally shot a letter to Banerjee asking her to chorus from tagging the Digha temple as a “dham”.
Allegations had surfaced that neem wooden, preserved on the Puri temple, was stolen to make the idols within the Digha temple. Considered auspicious in Hindu faith, wooden from neem (Azadirachta Indica) tree was used to make the idols of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra on the historic Puri temple.
Banerjee oversaw the consecration ceremony on April 30. The consecration was supervised by Rajesh Daitapati (servitor), one of many monks from the Puri temple.
“Nobody raises questions when Mamata Banerjee builds skywalks at Dakshineswar and Kalighat temple or worships Kali or Durga. But the Jagannath Dham appears to have hit the mistaken nerve. I’m being accused of stealing a neem tree. There are 4 neem bushes at my residence. Ask them what number of they need. We don’t have to steal issues,” Banerjee had mentioned in May, reacting to the allegations.
Though a subsequent probe discovered the allegations unfaithful, the servitor of the Puri temple who attended the “consecration course of” of the Jagannath temple in Digha was debarred from coming into the temple for a month.
“I feel that the folks of the state are considerably detached to this Jagannath temple challenge. Neither the BJP nor the TMC will acquire something out of this. Only a handful of sweet-traders are more likely to acquire one thing from this as just a few crores of rupees are concerned. Even although the Mamata Banerjee authorities had deliberate to counter The Hindutva marketing campaign, it has misplaced the sting,” mentioned Biswanath Chakraborty, professor of political science on the Rabindra Bharati University.
