A ₹250-cr duplicate of Odisha’s Jagannath Temple in Bengal sparks a dispute between the states.

• Bankim Mishra, a Trinamool Congress leader, traveled 250 km from Chhatna, West Bengal, to Digha, Purba Medinipur, carrying lotus flowers and water from the sacred Susunia spring.

• Mishra, a devotee of Lord Jagannath, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu, attended the inauguration of a replica of the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha.

• The temple was built at a cost of ₹250 crore and was decorated with flowers, flags, and lights.

• The Chief Minister Shiv Sahay Singh composed a Bengali hymn in honour of Lord Jagannath, which was sung by West Bengal’s Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs Indranil Sen.

• The event was a ‘Ram Temple moment’ for the Trinamool Congress, as it countered the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva push.

• BJP leader Dilip Ghosh defied party lines and arrived at the temple with his wife, causing a shift in focus from a religious event to politics.

• The event was live-streamed and the images of Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra were depicted through colourful lights across the town.

• Hundreds of light technicians, mostly from Chandannagar, worked for weeks in Digha to set up illuminated gates and other symbols associated with Jagannath.

• The CM visited the temple premises twice, taking stock of last-minute preparations.

• On April 29, a mahayajna was held, and the gates of the temple were opened for a select group of dignitaries for the first time.

• On April 30, the doors of the temple were opened by the CM after a cultural programme.

“Ending Polarisation in Bengal’s Hindu Vote Politics”

• Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty argues that the Muslim population supports Mamata Banerjee’s efforts to counter Hindu votes polarisation in the 2026 Assembly poll.

• Banerjee’s construction of the Jagannath temple in Digha and a skywalk at the Kalighat temple in Kolkata is seen as a counter-narrative to Hindu sentiments.

• The construction of the Jagannath temple was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was completed three years later.

• Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, from the Purba Medinipur district, opposes the construction of the Jagannath temple, arguing it is a cultural center rather than a temple.

• Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has requested Banerjee to refrain from using the term “Jagannath Dham” for the temple, arguing it dilutes the distinct heritage of Shree Jagannath Dham, Puri.

• Intellectual Property Rights experts suggest the controversy is more about cultural and regional identity politics than pure IPR.

• The dispute over the Jagannath temple may be less about pure IPR and more about cultural and regional identity politics.

• Previous disputes between West Bengal and Odisha have been settled after the GI registry awarded the GI tag to ‘Banglar rosogolla’ in 2017 and ‘Odisha rasagola’ in 2019.