Odisha Government To Set Up Digital Library To Preserve Puri Jagannath Temple Rare Records
The digital library has been named Gyana Yagnya Mandap and will be located at the site of the old Raghunandan Library
Published : October 5, 2025 at 1:57 PM IST
Puri: The Odisha government will establish a digital library to safeguard the invaluable records and manuscripts associated with the Jagannath Temple in Odisha's Puri.
Named as Gyana Yagnya Mandap, the library will be located at the site of the old Raghunandan Library in Puri. It will also feature a research centre, as announced by Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan. The initiative aimed to provide digital access to devotees and researchers, showcasing the temple’s timeless legacy.
Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan highlighted the government’s efforts to safeguard the temple’s heritage. “The proposed digital library will come up at the location of the old Raghunandan Library. This library will have a modern e-library helping the researchers and readers. It will be named as Gyana Yagnya Mandap,” Harichandan said.
The state government will also set up a research centre at the library, said Harichandan. “Rare records and sacred documents of Jagannath temple, including Madala Panjhi and rituals of the presiding deities, and palm-leaf manuscripts, among other things, will be preserved at the digital library,” he said.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief, Arabinda Padhee, said, “Devotees as well as researchers can visit the digital library and access the preserved temple records. This unique initiative seeks to safeguard the timeless heritage of Jagannath temple.”
Taking to X, Padhee said, "With the blessings of Mahaprabhu, SJTA is going to set up a Digital Library to preserve rare temple records, rituals, the sacred Madala Panji, palm-leaf manuscripts and more, while providing digital access to devotees and researchers. This unique initiative seeks to safeguard the timeless heritage of Shree Jagannatha Temple."
The Raghunandan Library had been set up by the authorities of Emar Mutt at Puri in the 1920s. The heritage library, located on the first floor of the mutt building near the Jagannath temple, was a storehouse of rare palm-leaf manuscripts and books in the Sanskrit, Odia, and Bengali languages.
The mutt, along with the library, had been demolished to facilitate the construction of the Jagannath temple heritage corridor a few years ago. The books and manuscripts of the library had been shifted to another location in Puri.
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