Personally supervised, says Mamata forward of Rath Yatra at Dighas Jagannath temple

“I personally supervised every thing on the Jagannath Dham in Digha and held an administrative assembly with senior officers in order that no untoward incident takes place,” Banerjee mentioned in a put up on social media on Thursday.

Banerjee, who arrived at Digha on Wednesday, additionally walked the one-kilometre stretch alongside which the three chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram and Devi Subhadra will likely be pulled by devotees. She was accompanied by no less than 4 ministers and round 50 senior officers, together with the state director normal 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 final 15 days following customs noticed on the Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha. It was reopened on Thursday. HIDCO adorned the chariots as nicely.

Illuminated premises of the Jagannath Temple on the eve of the annual ‘Rath Yatra’ competition, at Digha, in Purba Medinipur district, (PTI) “The puja and different rituals will start at 9.30 am. The Rath Yatra will begin within the afternoon. Barricades will likely be arrange on each side of the path to keep away from a stampede-like scenario,” Banerjee informed reporters as hundreds of believers and vacationers arrived forward of the weekend occasion.

“At least 250 buses have carried folks from Kolkata since Wednesday. The variety of passengers to the city has elevated manifold ever because the temple was inaugurated on April 30,” mentioned Suman Maity, joint secretary of the Joint Council of Bus Union.

“Digha was all the time a preferred weekend vacation spot for vacationers. The footfall has swelled by no less than 40% since May. The Rath Yatra has damaged all information. Hotels have run out of lodging,” Ashok Chanda, secretary of the New Digha Hotel Owners’ Association, mentioned.

Banerjee oversaw the consecration ceremony on the new temple on April 30 that led Suvendu Adhikari, the chief of the Opposition within the meeting, to launch a four-day Hindu non secular convention at East Midnapore’s Contai city across the similar time.

Adhikari accused Banerjee of passing off a cultural centre as a temple and alleged that individuals had been having fish and meat on the market and strolling round in footwear.

Built at a price of round ₹250 crore, the temple is a reproduction of the traditional temple of Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Vishnu, at Puri, 350 km away.

The Puri temple has been worshipped for hundreds of years by Hindus as one of many Char Dhams (4 abodes) of Lord Vishnu. The different three are at Badrinath, Dwarka and Rameswaram.

“The Digha temple will not be a Dham. Mamata Banerjee is making enjoyable of Hindus,” Adhikari mentioned on Thursday.

Bharatiya Janata Party chief Koustav Bagchi filed a public curiosity litigation (PIL) on the Calcutta excessive courtroom in May, difficult the federal government’s resolution to nominate 100 civic volunteers for the temple.

The chief minister sought to disregard the BJP’s assaults on Thursday.

“I don’t know faith. I do know solely folks,” Mamata mentioned.