With the much-hyped inauguration of the Jagannath Dham in Digha of East Midnapore district scheduled on Wednesday, the state’s transport department has decided to ply around 150 state buses, including the luxurious Volvos to ferry VVIPs, guests, and devotees between the venue of the event and their respective drop-points in the city and districts.
Most of the Volvos operated by the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) have already been pressed into service to carry dignitaries, bureaucrats, and IPS officers to the venue from Monday.
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Sources in the state transport department said that besides the Volvos, more than 100 non-AC government buses under the South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) would ply between Digha and adjoining districts.
Requesting anonymity, the sources said that the state secretariat Nabanna and East Midnapore district administration have separately requisitioned the Volvo fleets for three days from Monday.
One Volvo has been earmarked for monks of the ISKCON in Mayapur for the inaugural programme of the Jagannath Dham. A senior official of the WBTC said: “All the Volvos usually are used for inter-district service between Kolkata-Siliguri, Kolkata-Digha, Kolkata-Purulia.”
“The advance booking of so many luxury buses won’t affect the normal public transport system because all these fleets ply mostly for week-end services for tourists mainly,” the official added.
A large number of private buses have already been requisitioned by respective regional transport authorities (RTA) in East Midnapore and adjoining districts.
Three air-conditioned hangars, each with a capacity to accommodate 3,000 people, have been set up to allow people to watch the ceremony in person. Select industrialists have been invited in a bid to boost tourism in Digha by connecting it to the Jagannath temple.
The massive Jagannath Dham, built along the lines of Puri’s 12th-century shrine, has been constructed on 20 acres of land beside the seashore in Digha at a cost of more than around Rs 250 crore.
Before the inauguration of the temple and the consecration ceremony on Wednesday – the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya – priests have already started religious rituals since last Wednesday, 23 April under the supervision of representatives of Puri’s Jagannath temple.
The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) is the sole state government agency that has built the temple.
The chief minister, Mamata Banerjee in 2018 had announced the setting up of the Jagannath temple in Digha, and planned to open it for devotees across the country by 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the construction work.
CM Banerjee, on her three day-long trip, reached Digha on Monday to supervise the event. She will attend the Maha Yajna and prana pratishta (consecration) ceremonies, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Miss Banerjee further said that there is a spiritual ambience in Digha right now. As a large number of pilgrims would flock to this sea town and footfall would gradually increase in days to come.
“The coming up of the temple would build a bridge between spirituality and tourism,” Miss Banerjee said.