London:
A UK-based charity working on a project to build Britain’s first temple dedicated to Lord Jagannatha in London has welcomed a £25 million pledge from an Odisha entrepreneur and hopes to see the first phase of construction by the end to be completed next year.
Shree Jagannatha Society (SJS) UK, registered with the Charity Commission in England, said global Indian investor Biswanath Patnaik made the pledge at the first Shree Jagannatha convention held in London on Sunday.
Mr. Patnaik, the founder of the FinNest Group of Companies, joins the company’s managing director, Arjun Kar, the project’s UK-based lead donor.
On this occasion, Shri Kar announced that Shri Biswanath Patnaik has pledged GBP 25 million towards the construction of a magnificent temple to Lord Jagannatha in London, which will be facilitated by the FinNest Group of Companies, of which he is the Managing Director. the charity said in a statement.
The FinNest Group is an early-stage private investment firm investing globally in renewable energy sources, electric vehicles (EVs), hydrogen locomotives, innovative technology and fintech. Kar also revealed at the event that the group has pledged £7 million towards the purchase of nearly 15 acres of land for the new temple – which will be known as Shree Jagannatha Mandir London.
“Suitable land has been identified and is currently in the final stage of purchase, and a pre-planning application has been submitted to the local government to obtain permission to build the Mandir,” the charity said.
In his message to the convention, which coincided with the celebration of Akshaya Trithiya over the weekend, Patnaik pledged his financial support for the construction of the temple and urged devotees to “join together with faith in Lord Jagannatha to realize the dream of a make Mandir a reality. at the earliest”.
The convention, attended by the Deputy Indian High Commissioner of the UK Sujit Ghosh and the Indian Minister (Culture) Amish Tripathi, celebrated the UK tour of Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the Maharaja of Puri, along with Maharani Leelabati Pattamahadei.
“The most important aspect of Lord Jagannatha’s tradition is its all-encompassing universality. He is invoked and worshiped by virtually all the diverse religious sampradayas – each in their own way. Lord Jagannatha is also worshiped by Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs,” said Gajapati Maharaja.
As the Aadya Sevak, or chiefly servant of Lord Jagannatha, and the Chairman of the Management Committee of Shri Jagannatha Temple at Sri Mandir in Purushottama Kshetra, he also expressed his support for the temple project. In his keynote address entitled ‘Traditions of Lord Jagannatha and the Significance of Purushottama Kshetra’, he noted that the tradition of Lord Jagannatha represents “great harmony” for the planet.
Dr. Sahadev Swain, Chairman of SJS UK, expressed hope that the new Shree Jagannatha Mandir London will become an epicenter of Jagannatha culture in Europe and a prominent place of pilgrimage, attracting thousands of devotees and tourists from all over the world.
The charity’s Indian-origin trustees – Bhakta Panda, Aditya Singh, Santosh Pattnayak, Chetan Shatapathy, Sukanta Sahu, Amita Mishra, Nidhi Kar and Anjan Mishra – famously performed a victory prayer for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and presented him with gold-plated gods of India during his leadership campaign in London last year.
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