HISTORY / VISION
SHRI JAGANNATH MANDIR, TYAGRAJ NAGAR, DELHI
Shri Jagannath Mandir and Orissa Arts & Cultural Centre Delhi ( Regd )
Shri Jagannath Mandir in Puri, Odisha is one of the four Dhams of Hindu Sanatan Dharma . Situated at the Bay of Bengal in the eastern part of India. Lakhs of devotees all around the world visit this holy city of Puri to have Darshan of the Lord of the universe. Shri Jagannath Mandir and Orissa Arts & Cultural Centre Delhi (Regd) came into existence in the year 1968 in the capital city in Delhi. This mandir of Lord Shri Jagannath at Thyagraj Nager, New Delhi attracts thousands of devotees from and around Delhi. This mandir is the oldest Mandir of lord Jagannath in NCR which is very close to the INA and JORBAGH Metro station. Recently the redevelopment plan was designed in such a way so as to give the entire area a new good look. This plan has given a straight approach from the Shri Jagannath Marg ( in front of Thyagraj Stadium ) to the mandir and has a plenty of parking area for the convenience of the devotees. The work of redevelopment is going on in a swift speed and it is expected to be completed soon in a span of approximately one year.
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
It was in the year 1952 when ORISSA CLUB was come to an existence. It was in the year 1962 when the population of the Odia people was about 1000 only in Delhi; a few amongst them were united to form an association called ORISSA CLUB in Delhi. The registered office of the club was 105, South Avenue, New Delhi-11. This was probably the first organization belongs to the Odias in Delhi. The aim of the club was to take a land and establish Shri Jagannath culture and a primary school for the Odia children’s between the age group of 6 -11 years. The objective of the club was to have a Jagannath cultural center comprising a simple and graceful architect of a temple, a Boarding/Lodging house which will be open to all temporary visitors to the capital irrespective of their race and religion, an information centre which will provide all necessary information concerning Odisha to interested people like tourists etc., a fairly big and well- equipped library cum reading room containing books or Odia literature (ancient and modern), Odia and Indian history and culture, and a primary school. The Club demanded about 5 acres of land free of cost or on a normal rent to the Ministry of Works, Housing & Supply, Government of India, New Delhi through the Education department, Government of Odisha. A letter was also given to the then Hon’ble Deputy Minister, works, housing and supply, Govt. of India, New Delhi, Shri Jagannath Rao, to take an early and favourable action in this matter by the President of the club Shri K.C.Jena,( M.P. ) on dated 13, November,1962.
A letter with an enclosed Performa from the Ministry (L & D O) was issued to the club on dated 1 st , December, 1962. It was requested to fill up the Performa and sent it back to the ministry.
The vice president of the club, Shri S.D.Das on dated 21 st , February, 1963 replied to the ministry by intimating “that the execution of the scheme of the club had been postponed on account of National Emergency due to Chinese aggression on our soil. The Performa will be forwarded to you, duly completed, when it is revived.”
After three years, on dated 19 th ,feburary, 1966, The vice president of the club, Shri S.D.Das , wrote a letter to the (L & D O ), ministry of works, housing & supply, Govt.of India to consider the proposal after the relaxation of the border trouble by the government of India. Another letter was written to Shri Sadashiv Tripathy, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha on dated 15 th , March, 1966, requesting him to grant of Rs one lakh to the club to meet the expenses for the proposed project.
In the meantime a letter dated 23 rd , march, 1966, was received from L&D Requesting club to write to secretary , ministry of works housing and urban development directly for the allotment of land. Simultaneously the correspondence with the Govt. of Odisha continued for the grant of Rs one lakh to the club vide letter dated 22.07.1966, 20.08.1966, 18.11.1966, 08.12.1966, 07.02.1967, 29.03.1967, 12.04.1967, 20.05.1967, 08.06.1967, 30.06.1967, 11.08.1967, 22.03.1968, 06.05.1968, but finally a letter came from Shri Md.Hakim, O.S.S., Asst. Secretary, Govt. of Odisha, Department of Cultural affairs which was addressed to Shri. S. Das ,Vice President, Odisha Club Delhi, dated 1 st ,Nov, 1968 that the Fund of Rs 1,00,000/- was granted to some other organization in Delhi.
Shri Jagannath Mandir Delhi, (Regd.) was constituted on 14 th , January, 1968 consisting of Odias of lower and middle income groups living in dDelhi. The demand for grant of Rs one lakh was made many times thereafter with the government of Odisha but of no gain. The demand for financial support for the primary school was also continually but all efforts went in vain and there was no support for this cause. A small tample of Lord Jagannath was made and deities were brought from Puri, Odisha in the leadership of Baba Baikuntha Das, a saint who was the inspiration for the construction of the temple. (Letter 18-05- 1969)……….
The foundation stone of the temple was laid on 14th January 1968 and the construction work started on 5th February 1968. Initially with the limited resources of the society, a small temple was built and regular worshiping of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balbhadra and Maa Subhadra started with installation of small size idols of three Deities, inside the small temple.
In 1982 with kind approval of late Shri Braja Mohan Mohanty, the then Union Minister of State for Works, Housing & Land, and as a result of sincere and dedicated efforts of Society’s President Sh. A.C.Das, Ex-MP (Lok Sabha), Vice- President late Shri Sukhadev Das, Secretary late Shri Sukhdev Biswal and Treasurer Shri G.C.Biswal, some land was allocated at the very site of the temple at Thyagraj Nagar, New Delhi -110003. For the purpose of augmenting revenues of the society for building a full- fledged temple, and also for providing temporary accommodation to the visitors from Odisha, and elsewhere, a dharmasala with 18 rooms was built adjacent to the temple in the year 1986.
Hon’ble former Chief Justice of Supreme Court, late Justice R.N.Mishra laid the foundation stone of the new and present structure of the temple on 23rd January 1991 Following the completion of construction work, His Excellency Shri Dibya Singh Deo, Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, inaugurated the temple, being karta on the Pratistha Ceremony on 28th January 1999. Large size idols of the three Deities which were brought from Puri were installed with performing of Maha yagyan by vedantic Brahmins for six days and Jeevan-nyas by His Holiness Rajguru of Puri. Late Shri Ramesh Chandra ji since then, there is no look back, as Lord Jagannath Himself has been leading for development of the Mandir and the development is now visible. The other prominent members who contributed for the growth of this Society are, Shri Gangadhar Biswal, Shri P K Bhuinan, Shri Trilochan Nayak, Shri Jagabandhu Das, Shri.F.C.Rout, Shri G.N.Behura, Shri B.C.Nayak, Shri Narayan, Shri H.C.Patro, Shri.Dusan Samal, Shri.C.M.Panigrahi, Shri B.N.Adhikari, Shri K.B.Mohanti, Shri N.C. Upadhaya, Shri.S.C.Patnaik
The objectives of the Society are as follows:
- To work for development of social, culture and educational advancement of the members and of the general public.
- To undertake activities for the persons who are less privileged and deprived section of the society
- To organize different cultural functions/event for promotion of arts and culture ofOdisha in the national capital, Delhi.
- To organize health check-up camps, blood donation camps and good health awareness camps etc.
- To organize various workshops for promotion of culture and competition among children for building good moral character and spiritual development.
Vision
To serve the mankind is to serve the Lord Jagannath, Who is the Lord of the Universe. This can be possible only when truly dedicated and visionary persons with strong conviction for selfless service are associated together.
It is a matter of great fortune that many more noble persons with broad vision are attracted to this Mandir are have vowed to be associated lifelong. It is our belief that if noble dedicated and enterprising persons are placed at the Helen of affairs, a positive atmosphere will be created, encompassing all stake- holders including employees of this organization leading to all sorts of prosperity and development. Our vision is to patronage development of arts and culture within our limited resources, voluntary charitable activities for the service and development fo under- privileged sections of people of the society and to spread Shri Jagannath by establishing the Mandir premises as Jagannath conscious centre in national capital of India.
