Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday reviewed the arrangements for the first Rath Yatra at the new Jagannath temple in the beach town of Digha in East Midnapore district.
“I personally supervised everything at the Jagannath Dham in Digha and held an administrative meeting with senior officials so that no untoward incident takes place,” Banerjee said in a post on social media on Thursday.
Banerjee, who arrived at Digha on Wednesday, also walked the one-kilometre stretch along which the three chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram and Devi Subhadra will be pulled by devotees. She was accompanied by at least four ministers and around 50 senior officials, including the state director general of police and the chief secretary.
Built as a cultural centre by the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), the Jagannath temple was closed for the last 15 days following customs observed at the Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha. It was reopened on Thursday. HIDCO decorated the chariots as well.
“The puja and other rituals will begin at 9.30 am. The Rath Yatra will start in the afternoon. Barricades will be set up on both sides of the route to avoid a stampede-like situation,” Banerjee told reporters as thousands of believers and tourists arrived ahead of the weekend event.
“At least 250 buses have carried people from Kolkata since Wednesday. The number of passengers to the town has increased manifold ever since the temple was inaugurated on April 30,” said Suman Maity, joint secretary of the Joint Council of Bus Union.
“Digha was always a popular weekend destination for tourists. The footfall has swelled by at least 40% since May. The Rath Yatra has broken all records. Hotels have run out of accommodation,” Ashok Chanda, secretary of the New Digha Hotel Owners’ Association, said.
Banerjee oversaw the consecration ceremony at the new temple on April 30 that led Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the assembly, to launch a four-day Hindu religious conference at East Midnapore’s Contai town around the same time.
Adhikari accused Banerjee of passing off a cultural centre as a temple and alleged that people were having fish and meat out there and walking around in shoes.
Built at a cost of around ₹250 crore, the temple is a replica of the ancient temple of Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Vishnu, at Puri, 350 km away.
The Puri temple has been worshipped for centuries by Hindus as one of the Char Dhams (four abodes) of Lord Vishnu. The other three are at Badrinath, Dwarka and Rameswaram.
“The Digha temple is not a Dham. Mamata Banerjee is making fun of Hindus,” Adhikari said on Thursday.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Koustav Bagchi filed a public interest litigation (PIL) at the Calcutta high court in May, challenging the government’s decision to appoint 100 civic volunteers for the temple.
The chief minister sought to ignore the BJP’s attacks on Thursday.
“I don’t know religion. I know only people,” Mamata said.
