Final prep afoot for CM’s inauguration of Digha’s Jagannath Temple on Apr 30

Kolkata: The final preparations are afoot as the Jagannath Temple at Digha in East Midnapore is scheduled to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on April 30 (Akshay Tritiya).

Over 12,000 guests along with 250 VVIPs are to grace the inaugural programme. Danseuse Dona Ganguly and her troupe will be performing at the event.

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Saturday reviewed the last minute preparations of the upcoming temple in presence of officials of the Public Works Department, Transport, Public Health Engineering. Irrigation and Waterways, Power etc at Nabanna. Officials of West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is involved in the temple’s construction and Digha Sankarpur Development Authority were also present.

Transport will be regulated in Digha from April 28 to manage the crowd which is expected to turn up at the event. No transport will be allowed in three to four kilometres proximity of the temple on April 29 and 30.

Recently, Banerjee had said that people who want to visit Digha at that time should reach by 3 pm on April 28. No commercial vehicle entry will be allowed beyond the Digha gate on April 29 and 30 (except for emergency purposes). The ‘Maha Yogya’ will be performed on April 29, a day before the unveiling of the temple.

The head priest from the Puri Jagannath temple will be performing the ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration) that will be live telecast through a giant LED screen in each block. The temple will be managed by ISKCON.

The temple, a replica of the Puri Jagannath temple which is coming up on 22 acres of land at an approximate cost of Rs 150 crore, will have guest rooms and rest areas besides an administrative building and fire service provisions.

Unlike Puri, where ‘khaja’ is offered, sweets such as ‘gujia’ and ‘peda’ will be offered at this temple. There will be a special entrance, Chaitanya Dwar and a separate ‘bhog’ arena.