Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik seeks PM's intervention into 'Jagannath Dham' row

SAND artist Sudarsan Pattnaik on Tuesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the row over the West Bengal government calling a recently inaugurated Jagannath temple in the coastal town of Digha as ‘Jagannath Dham'.

- PBD BUREAU/PTI

The Padma Shri awardee, who is also a former member of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC), asserted that Puri's Jagannath temple is the "original dham".

He said the West Bengal government calling the Digha temple as ‘Jagannath Dham’ was not acceptable to millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath.

"It has come to public attention, through an announcement by the chief minister of West Bengal, that the newly inaugurated Jagannath temple in Digha is being referred to as Jagannath Dham'. While the construction of a new temple dedicated to Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannath is truly commendable and appreciated, the reference to it as ‘Jagannath Dham' has deeply hurt the religious sentiments of millions of His devotees around the world,” Pattnaik said in the letter to the PM.