Cabinet clears plan for permanent Durga temple complex in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Goddess Durga, among the most revered deities in Bengal, will get a permanent temple complex — Durga Angan — where she can be worshipped round the year. The Bengal cabinet, chaired by CM Mamata Banerjee, has given its nod to the proposal and tasked the tourism dept and Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) to identify a plot and build it.

According to tentative plans, hunt for a plot near Kolkata has already begun.“Unesco has recognised Bengal’s Durga Puja as a heritage. In honour of this, the CM has announced the creation of Durga Angan. Hidco and tourism dept will jointly work towards building it. This will be one place where Ma Durga will be worshipped all year round,” power, housing and sports minister Aroop Biswas said after the cabinet meet on Monday. “The first step will be to ask the state to allot the required land.

The budget is yet to be discussed and the exact plan will be worked out now that the necessary approval has come through,” he said.A trust will be established to manage the temple complex and names of the trust members will be announced later, Biswas said., and added that this will be a tourist attraction similar to the Jagannath temple in Digha. The Jagannath temple complex in Digha, built by Hidco, is also run by a trust.

Trinamool seniors said Banerjee was considering setting up the facility closer to the city and had already instructed officials to choose a suitable land. The complex is expected to resemble an open-air museum that will also depict the culture and heritage of Durga Puja. “Durga Aangan is likely to be a place where anyone can experience the essence of Durga Puja, not merely the religious aspect of it, but also its cultural socio-economic importance,” a senior party functionary said.CM Banerjee had announced a permanent Durga temple from the July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally. “You (BJP) say I don’t allow Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja. And now all of a sudden, you have remembered Maa Durga and Maa Kali. Maa Durga is our state and the nation’s asset. Durga Puja is a cultural treasure of our country. This festival has been inscribed on Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage. Just like I built Jagannath Dham, I will build a Durga Aangan in Bengal, where people can visit and experience the colour and essence of Durga Puja throughout the year,” she had said.

The announcement had led several political commentators to say that the Trinamool chief was invoking Bengal’s most revered deity to cushion BJP’s Hindutva politics and drive home the Bengali ethos and culture.