Bengal government to remove ‘Dham’ tag from name of Digha temple

The West Bengal government, led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will remove the word ‘Dham’ from the name of the Jagannath temple in Digha, founded by the previous Trinamool Congress government. 

In a press briefing from the State secretariat, Nabanna, on Tuesday (June 9, 2026), Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari declared that the decision was taken following a suggestion from the Odisha Chief Minister, Mohan Charan Majhi. 

The MP of the Puri Lok Sabha constituency, Sambit Patra, on Tuesday handed over Mr. Manjhi’s letter to Mr. Adhikari. “I am accepting this letter. We are withdrawing the word – ‘Dham’. We respect the Sanatana Dharma. There is only Chaar Dham (four abodes) in Hindu Sanatana. In 2025, this temple was inaugurated and named Jagannath Dham. This move hurt the sentiment of all the Hindus in Odisha, and also the ones who stay in Bengal from Odisha. Nobody should play with the core Sanatana ideology. Now the government has changed and we have decided to act on this matter,” said Mr. Adhikari. 

On April 30, 2025, the then-West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, inaugurated the temple in Digha, which was built at a cost of around ₹250 crores. The shrine is also a replica of the 12th-century temple in Puri.

Objection from BJP

However, the State BJP leadership labelled Ms. Banerjee a “fake Hindu,” accusing her of indulging in tokenistic religious construction to divert attention from minority appeasement policies. 

BJP leaders, along with religious authorities from Puri, objected to the temple being called “Jagannath Dham.” They argued that the term “Dham” is religiously exclusive to the sacred Char Dham (including Puri), and eventually celebrated the removal of the “Dham” signage by the State as a victory for Hindu unity. 

Mr. Adhikari, said, “Let me state clearly that the then-government had approved it as a cultural centre. We will remove the word ‘Dham’. The cultural centre complex will remain, and worship will continue. The entire complex will function as a temple, but the word ‘Dham’ will be dropped. I, too, felt that the previous government had disregarded people’s sentiments”

The Chief Minister also declared that the Chief Secretary, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, will soon issue a formal notification in this regard.