Mon May 05 22:33:51 UTC 2025: **West Bengal CM Denies Theft of Sacred Wood in Digha Temple Controversy**
KOLKATA, INDIA (May 6, 2025) – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vehemently denied allegations that sacred neem wood was stolen from Puri’s Jagannath shrine to create idols for the newly built Digha temple. Speaking to reporters in Murshidabad on Monday, Ms. Banerjee called the accusations “baseless and unacceptable,” asserting that the Digha temple used its own sources of neem wood.
She attributed the allegations to political jealousy, stating that opposition parties are envious of the new temple. Ms. Banerjee pointed out that the temple’s idols were originally intended to be made of marble and that the wood was sourced elsewhere, referencing statements made by Daityapati, the individual responsible for acquiring the wood.
The Chief Minister also defended the construction of the Digha temple, questioning the opposition’s anger towards its existence. She highlighted the irony of protests against her visits to Puri’s Jagannath temple by the RSS and BJP. The Digha temple, inaugurated on April 30th, was built at a cost of ₹250 crore and sits on over 20 acres of land.
Separately, Ms. Banerjee expressed concern over reported attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Odisha, citing letters from two TMC MPs detailing the assaults. She condemned the targeting of these workers based on their language.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, a critic of the Digha temple, claimed that the “Jagannath Dham” signage has been removed from the site following pressure, and that the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has issued a show-cause notice to Dasmohapatra regarding the origin of the wood used for the idols.
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