Digha: Digha, an ideal sea town, which lies nearly 187 Km from Kolkata and is known as the ‘Brighton of the East’, is in the news for a different reason than tourism this time.
So long its, alluring sea beaches, picturesque vistas and diverse marine life of this coastal town have been big draws for tourists. West Bengal government's initiative to open a Jagannath temple, built as a replica of the 12th-century shrine in Puri, Odisha, is getting attention nowadays.
The temple will be inaugurated on Wednesday on the auspicious occasion of ‘Akshaya Trithiya’ in this sea town, which is around 350 km from Puri.
A day before, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took part in a special havan in the newly built Jagannath temple. It has been going on since morning.
At about 4:30 pm, she participated in the havan along with Puri's Jagannath temple servitor Rajesh Dwaitapati and ISKCON vice-president Radharman Das. She performed aarti. Then, following the tradition of Puri, the flag was hoisted at the top of the temple.
Chief Minister said, "Religion is not a matter of show-off, it has to be understood with the heart. I only worship Ma, Maati and Manush(mother, land and people)."
According to her, just as tourists come to Digha due to the sea, this time Digha will become a wonderful meeting place of nature and religion. She hoped that Digha would attract more tourists.
On Tuesday, 57 priests from Puri and 17 monks of ISKCON performed the rituals. Temple trustee board member Radharman Das said the idols of Jagannath Dev and Radha Krishna will be installed on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.
According to the norm, gold, silver and copper wires will be twisted around the body of the idol and then it would be tied around the waist of the priest.
Then the main phase of the installation will be completed by installing the pot, installing the kunda and finally replacing the reflection.
An assemblage of eminent musicians
Eminent people from different walks of life were present at Tuesday's yagna. A huge stage has been set up on the temple premises. Renowned dancer Dona Gangopadhyay, musician Nachiketa, Sriradha Banerjee, Emon Chakraborty and Jeet Gangopadhyay arrived to attend the temple opening event.
About a thousand artists will participate at the event. About 8000 seats have been reserved in front of the stage for the audience.
A good number of people have been streaming in the town since Sunday. Strict security is being maintained across Digha with the deployment of a large contingent of police and CCTV surveillance.
