Over 3 lakh devotees visit Digha Jagannath temple for Rath Yatra, daily footfall may hit 1 lakh: ISKCON

Approximately three lakh devotees visited the newly inaugurated Jagannath Temple in Digha during the Rath Yatra celebrations and the day preceding it, according to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The temple, located in the coastal town of West Bengal, has seen a surge in footfall since its opening in April.

Radharaman Das, Vice President of ISKCON, stated that between 70,000 and 1 lakh pilgrims are expected to visit the temple daily until July 4, the date of ‘Ulto Rath’ or the return chariot festival. He said, “Netrotsav (when the deities are unveiled for public darshan) over two days saw around three lakh devotees in total.”

The temple complex currently has the deities—Lord Jagannath, Lord Baldev, and Goddess Subhadra—housed in a secondary temple considered their ‘Mausi Bari’ (aunt’s home), located approximately 750 metres from the main temple. All rituals and ceremonies are being performed at this location, as per ISKCON.

Das confirmed that the inflow of pilgrims has remained steady despite periodic rainfall in the region. The temple management has continued all religious activities uninterrupted and maintained crowd control for smooth darshan and ceremonies.

Since the temple’s inauguration on April 30, nearly 33 lakh people have visited the site. An official from the Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) said the coastal town is emerging as a prominent religious tourism destination in West Bengal, with expectations of increased pilgrim numbers in the coming year.