Digha temple naming upsets Odias living abroad

Bhubaneswar: Naming of the newly consecrated Digha temple in West Bengal as ‘Jagannath Dham' has come in for strong criticism from Odias living abroad."When the temple was inaugurated in Digha we were very happy. But when we came to know that it is being called a dham, we were very unhappy," said Tarun Agasti, vice-president of Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, Canberra, Australia. "Such a nomenclature will be very misleading for the next generation. Devotees should be shown the right path," he added.The issue found its echo among other Jagannath devotees who feel there can only be the four dhams — Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. "Since childhood we have known about four dhams in Hinduism. Renaming the Digha temple as Jagannath Dham is unjustified," said Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty from Nagoya, Japan, who was instrumental in organising Rath Yatra for the first time in Kasugai City under Aichi prefecture.Like him, Odias living abroad come together for Rath Yatra and other festivals associated with Lord Jagannath. They feel that Jagannath temples can be built across the world but there can be only one ‘Jagannath Dham'. "Dham is permanent. There cannot be another Jagannath Dham other than Puri," said Jayashree Nanda from Amersham, UK.Most Odias are surprised the issue was not dealt with earlier. "The naming is completely wrong. We are surprised that it was not detected early," said Manoj Nayak, president, ORIOZ, who resides in Brisbane.On Sunday, a few Odias living in Sydney, Australia, came together to stage a protest at Boxhill. They were led by Sujeet Jena, former president of ORIOZ. Recently, Jagannath devotees from across the world also met over a virtual platform to discuss the issue in the presence of Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb.Bhubaneswar: Naming of the newly consecrated Digha temple in West Bengal as ‘Jagannath Dham' has come in for strong criticism from Odias living abroad."When the temple was inaugurated in Digha we were very happy. But when we came to know that it is being called a dham, we were very unhappy," said Tarun Agasti, vice-president of Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, Canberra, Australia. "Such a nomenclature will be very misleading for the next generation. Devotees should be shown the right path," he added.The issue found its echo among other Jagannath devotees who feel there can only be the four dhams — Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. "Since childhood we have known about four dhams in Hinduism. Renaming the Digha temple as Jagannath Dham is unjustified," said Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty from Nagoya, Japan, who was instrumental in organising Rath Yatra for the first time in Kasugai City under Aichi prefecture.Like him, Odias living abroad come together for Rath Yatra and other festivals associated with Lord Jagannath. They feel that Jagannath temples can be built across the world but there can be only one ‘Jagannath Dham'. "Dham is permanent. There cannot be another Jagannath Dham other than Puri," said Jayashree Nanda from Amersham, UK.Most Odias are surprised the issue was not dealt with earlier. "The naming is completely wrong. We are surprised that it was not detected early," said Manoj Nayak, president, ORIOZ, who resides in Brisbane.On Sunday, a few Odias living in Sydney, Australia, came together to stage a protest at Boxhill. They were led by Sujeet Jena, former president of ORIOZ. Recently, Jagannath devotees from across the world also met over a virtual platform to discuss the issue in the presence of Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb.