Mamata's Jagannath Dham: State-Funded Digha Temple Raises Concerns About Secularism
Joydeep Sarkar
Digha (West Bengal): On April 29, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stood before a Mahayagna, offering oblations in a state-funded ritual consecrating the newly built Jagannath Temple in Digha, a popular seaside resort in Purba Medinipur district.
She was not a passive observer, but acted as the chief Yajman, the ritual patron, overseeing rites that culminated in the Pran Pratishtha of the deity.
She and her followers are projecting the Jagannath Temple as a symbol of cultural triumph. Yet, behind the devotional grandeur lies a simple but troubling question: Can a secular state build a religious temple?
The Jagannath Dham, modelled on Puri’s famed shrine, spans 22 acres and has been funded entirely by the West Bengal government, to the tune of Rs. 250 crore. Not a single rupee came from voluntary religious donations.
A Hindu temple built by a secular government
The official document described it as Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra, but the website does not pretend to make it a cultural monument with a religious backstory. It is a temple. A fully functional Hindu temple, built by a secular government in a pluralistic democracy.
Mamata Banerjee's Jagannath Dham, a project reflecting her devotion, is likely to be a first in independent India’s secular history: a state government directly funding, constructing, and consecrating a Hindu temple. It even goes a step ahead of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a project driven by the BJP and Sangh Parivar but financed through private donations.
The project blatantly violates Article 27 of the Constitution, which forbids the use of public funds to promote religion. Yet, as Chief Minister of a state in the secular republic of India, Banerjee has overseen the allocation of taxpayer money to religious rituals, from Vedic yajnas to idol pran Pratishtha.
The state government-funded Jagannath Temple in Digha. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar
This is not cultural preservation – it is state-sponsored promotion of majoritarian religion.
Mamata Banerjee’s recent embrace of Ram Navami celebrations, patronisation of a ‘planted’-Kumbh in Hooghly, initiation of Ganga Aarti, and now Jagannath Dham echoes a calculated shift to counter the BJP’s inroads into Bengal’s Hindu electorate.
The installation of a Patitpavan idol (for “fallen” devotees) and a segregated darshan room for non-Hindus, touted as “inclusivity”, only reinforces the opposite, religious hierarchy.
TMC's language, tone, and imagery closely mirror the BJP’s religious nationalism
The language, tone, and imagery closely mirror the BJP’s religious nationalism. This shift coincides not coincidentally with the rise of BJP in Bengal post-2019, prompting the Trinamool to counter saffron with saffron lite.
The parallels between Narendra Modi’s Ayodhya and Mamata Banerjee’s Digha are uncanny. Both ceremonies are framed around electoral calendars, both claim to bring economic development through pilgrimage tourism, and both anoint their architects as divine intermediaries.
Modi, as Ram’s sevak (servant), performed rituals inside Ayodhya’s sanctum, merging his image with Hindu revivalism. Mamata, as Jagannath’s yajman (ritual patron), presided over fire offerings and aarti, positioning herself as the deity’s chosen steward.
The Digha temple’s inauguration was, in every way, a curated event. Public access was restricted. Even many Trinamool leaders were left out. Select MPs, MLAs, industrialists, film actors and singers were invited. And amid whispers, members of Banerjee family had special access to the rituals, a privilege unavailable to the general public in a project funded by their taxes.
What then is the Jagannath Dham? A temple for the people? Or a vanity project consecrated by power, wrapped in sanctity, and unveiled just in time for campaign season?
In the end, the question isn’t about gods—it’s about guardians. Who will guard the republic from its guardians?
Translated from the Bengali original and with inputs by Aparna Bhattacharya.
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