Thursday, 15 May 2025

Jagannath Dham - Puri Dham

Dham is a place of great religious and spiritual significance. Hinduism has four important pilgrimage sites that are called "Dhams."

Philosopher Adi Shankaracharya designated these four "Dhams" in the 8th Century. These four "Dhams" i.e. "Char Dham" are located in the four directions of India:

1. Puri - East

2. Dwarka - West

3. Badrinath - North

&

4. Rameswaram - South.

For over 1200 years, these Dhams have attracted pilgrims and devotees from far and wide. The "Dham" term is used with utmost reverence and honour, and historically and scripturally reserved for the ancient temples listed above.

Jagannath Dham - Image from X - @jagannathdhaam

Puri Dham is Jagannath Dham, one of the four Dham of India. For ages, Puri has been one of the holiest places, being the abode of Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha. Shree Vishnu is Shree Jagannatha in the Kali Yuga.  Puri is mentioned in many ancient Puranas and texts like the Skanda Purana.

Odisha Tourism

The Shree Jagannatha Temple is called the Shree Mandira. Shree refers to Devi Lakshmi, Shree Jagannatha's wife. It is believed that Maa Lakshmi cooks in the Shree Mandira, and Mahaprabhu eats in Puri Dham. The bhoga offered to Mahaprabhu is called "Mahaprasad". Puri is also called the " Bhoga Kshetra. " 

Everything about Puri Dham is great and grand, as it is the land of Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha.

Mahaprabhu - Great God

Mahodadhi- great sea

Mahaprasad- Great Prasad

Bada Danda- Grand Road

The word "Jagannatha" means- 

Odia - " Jagata ra Natha "

Hindi- " Lord of the world "

English- "The Lord of the Universe"

There are many publications about Shree Jagannatha Mahaprabhu and Puri Dham in multiple languages.

The following is in Bengali-

Source

Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is worshipped in the Shree Mandira as a special and extraordinary person, the king among men, and the most superior and supreme being, also called- "Purushottama." 

Over the centuries, many holy men of different religions have visited Puri. Puri has been and is being referred to by different names viz.-

  • Purushottama Kshetra
  • Neelachal Dham
  • Shree Kshetra
  • Sankha Area
  • Uddiyana Peetha
  • Martya Baikuntha etc.
Shreejagannatha.in

There are hundreds of Shree Jagannath Temples worldwide. None are using "Dham" in their name.


The West Bengal government has entirely replicated the Puri Shree Jagannatha Temple in Digha, and refers to their newly constructed "Jagannath Temple" as "Jagannath Dham." Apart from misusing the term "Dham", the Digha Jagannath Temple also creates a grave misrepresentation by its identical logo- the 'Neelachakra' with the Patitapabana 'Bana'- that is the Puri Shree Jagannatha Temple's exclusive online identity.

This directly infringes on and appropriates Puri Dham- Shree Jagannatha Temple's identity, status, and sanctity.

The title "Dham" is unique and special, and cannot be self-proclaimed. Such false representations and claims establish a fake narrative, distorting age-old cultural traditions and beliefs.

Now, when we search for "Jagannath Dham" images online, non-Dham images of the new Digha temple are also appearing in the Google search-results as follows:


Blue ticks are used in social media to show the identity.
The images with the blue ticks are of the original Puri Jagannath Dham.

"Jagannath Dham" search should only show the links and images related to the original Puri Dham of Odisha. However, from the above Google search image, we can also find some images of the new temple. This is because those websites etc. have used the same name- "Jagannath Dham."

This is the information age and AI—artificial intelligence. In the following image, AI shows the right location of the original Jagannath Dham as "Puri, Odisha, India."




But, when the Digha Jagannath Temple's online presence rises and more people start referring to its name as "Jagannath Dham," Bengal's links will start getting unfairly featured and hogging the limelight as the "Dham."

The malicious intention of those behind naming the Digha Jagannath Temple "Jagannath Dham" and using this term in all promotion, branding, website and, social media identity etc. is clear. The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, and several others like are referring to the Digha Temple as "Jagannath Dham" and referring to the real Dham, i.e., Puri Dham, as "Puri Temple"! 

Puri Shree Jagannatha Temple is Puri Dham and is the one and only Shree Jagannatha Dham.

However, Digha Jagannath Temple is NOT Jagannath Dham; rather it is "Jagannath Temple", like the hundreds of Jagannath Temples built inspired by the original Shree Jagannatha Dham of Puri, Odisha, India.

This difference must be understood, accepted, and respected by all.

Of all the Jagannatha Temples in the Universe, only Puri Shree Jagannatha Temple is Jagannath Dham.  

Some Bengalis have already started their "Boycott Odisha," "Boycott Puri," etc. campaigns. They claim they have "Jagannath Dham" and the "Mahodadhi" sea in Digha, Bengal, so why go to Puri?  Some have even started mentioning that Shree Jagannatha has shifted his abode from Puri to Digha! Shows their copycat and takeover mentality and scant regard for the Puri Dham. This way, the centuries-old ancient reputation gets diluted and impacted. High time that action is taken against wrongdoers who create confusion and misrepresentation by blurring distinctions and boundaries.

This writer has personally seen such a takeover of another term happen in yet another case when the Bengal representatives started calling their local Pot/Patua art "Patachitra"—the name of the art of Odisha. A decade ago, only 1-2 images of Patua art were visible when we searched for "Patachitra/Pattachitra" online. Their false representation has had its impact, and many Potua images are being passed off as "Patachitra." There is a need to #StopPattachitraMisuse.

Pattachitra- Copy & Misrepresentation

In 2015, this writer proposed and initiated "Rasagola Dibasa" (Rasgulla Day) on social media, and then worked for the GI tag of "Odisha Rasagola" to inform all about Rasagola's age-old association with Maa Lakshmi & Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha, Niladri Bije, Ratha Jatra, Puri Dham, and Odisha, and to #EndRasgullaDebate. 

Odisha Art and Sweet- Pattachitra and Rasgulla

 

 Have you visited Puri Dham? 

What do you feel about "Jagannath Dham"? Please share in the comments below.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your words mean a lot to me.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...