Odisha: SJTA to apply for patent on glossary linked to Puri Jagannath Temple

Bhubaneswar, May 27 (IANS) The Jagannath Temple at Puri will soon apply for a patent on the glossary linked to the famous 12th century shrine and deities and the and logo of the temple.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Srimandir Managing Committee held in the sacred coastal town on Monday under the chairmanship of Puri King Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb.

The committee took the decision in the wake of the controversy surrounding the naming the newly constructed Jagannath Temple at Digha in West Bengal as ‘Jagannath Dham’.

Informing media persons about the decision, the chief administrator of Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA), Arabinda Padhi on Monday said: "We will apply for a patent on the set of words attached to Lord Jagannath such as Srimandir, Shree Jagannatha Dham, Mahaprasad, Purusottam Dham, Shreekhetra, the Logo of Jagannatha temple etc. This is a very important decision which was approved by the management committee in the meeting.”

The Puri King also told media persons that the referring Digha temple as ‘Jagannath Dham’ is an insult to and against the tradition and culture of Jagannath.

He said there are numerous Jagannath temples located across the globe but none has been referred to as ‘Dham’, except the Puri temple.

"We request the state government to hold discussions with the West Bengal counterpart and ensure that Digha Temple should not be designated as ‘Dham’. The state government also possesses all relevant facts and references in this regard," said the Puri King.

Taking a dig at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) which is also in the Digha Jagannath Temple trust constituted by the West Bengal government, Deb questioned as to why the religious body didn't raise its voice against designating Digha Temple as ‘Jagannath Dham’ as they are aware that Puri is the only place designated as Jagannath Dham.

Earlier, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has written a letter to his West Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee requesting her government to stop naming Digha Temple as Jagannath Dham as it exclusively refers to the 12th century shrine at Puri and its usage for any other temple is inappropriate.

--IANS

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