Bhubaneswar: ISKCON Tuesday said it has no role in naming the newly built Jagannath Temple at Digha in West Bengal as a ‘Dham’ and its activities are confined to performing worship and rituals.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is just one of the 27 trustees of the Digha temple trust and does not wield much influence, a senior ISKCON official said here.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the temple in Digha April 30 and described it as a ‘Jagannath Dham’, sparking a controversy. The Odisha government and two Shankaracharyas have stated that only the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri can be called a Dham and no other shrine else.
The titular king of Puri, Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, who is the chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC) in Puri May 7 wrote to Shree Goverdhan Das Prabhu, chairman of ISKCON Governing Body Commission, Mayapur, requesting him to remove the term ‘Dham’ from the temple in Digha.
Deb is also the first servitor of Lord Jagannath in Puri.
Stating that ISKCON received the letter from Gajapati Maharaja, its director of communication, Premananda Das, said, “We have clarified that ISKCON’s role is very limited.”
ISKCON has been entrusted solely with the puja and related rituals at the Digha temple, he said.
“Of the 27 trustees of the Jagannath Dham Trust in Digha, only one is from ISKCON. The Trust comprises representatives from various communities, as well as officials nominated by the West Bengal government,” Das said.
The ISKCON official said that the ‘Jagannath Dham Trust’ in Digha was established more than three years ago, much ahead of the construction of the temple at the coastal town.
“We were added as a member much later. We are just one of the trust board members and do not wield much influence,” Das said, expressing helplessness about removing “Dham” from the Digha Jagannath Temple.
“Let the governments of the two states discuss and resolve the issue between them. The ISKCON has nothing to do with it,” he told reporters at Odisha state secretariat Lok Seva Bhavan.
An ISKCON delegation went there to seek permission from the Odisha government to undertake “prasad” distribution during the Rath Yatra festival in Puri.
The organisation planned to distribute ‘prasad’ to about 7 lakh to 8 lakh devotees from June 25 to July 7 in Puri.
“We will have our own kitchen and distribute prasad among devotees in busy places like bus stands, railway stations, sea beach and other places during the Rath Yatra,” Das said.
