The Odisha government has decided to set up a dedicated Shri Jagannath Mahaprabhu Land Cell to reclaim encroached temple land.

Revenue secretary Arabinda Kumar Padhee, who also serves as chief administrator of the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple, said: “Lord Shree Jagannath is regarded as the supreme spiritual landlord of our Odia community. Therefore, safeguarding all his landed properties is our collective moral responsibility. The cell will work towards the correction of land records of all properties registered in the name of Shree Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije, Puri, through the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration, and ensure expeditious disposal of pending cases.”

Padhee said discussions were also held on Thursday regarding the eviction of illegal encroachments from land under the administration of the Shree Jagannath Temple, particularly in various tehsils of Khordha district and along highways. It was decided that a review meeting on the protection of Mahaprabhu’s landed properties will be held on the first Wednesday of every month under the chairmanship of the collector of Khordha district.

The state government has also decided to hold review meetings in other districts to address the issue of retrieving land belonging to the Jagannath temple.

So far, the government has identified 60,426.943 acres of land belonging to the Shree Jagannath Temple. Of this, 395.252 acres are located outside Odisha in states such as Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. “We will initiate steps to recover the land and regularise the records,” a senior official said.

Officials said many devotees had donated land in the name of the Lord. Over the years, however, such land has been encroached upon in many areas. While land in the name of Lord Jagannath is spread across 24 districts of Odisha, 395.252 acres have been found in six other states of the country.

According to the temple’s official records, 17.02 acres are located in Andhra Pradesh, 322.93 acres in Bengal and 28.218 acres in Maharashtra. Similarly, 25.11 acres are located in Madhya Pradesh, 0.274 acres in Bihar and 1.70 acres in Chhattisgarh in the name of the Lord.

The Odisha government plans to settle the temple’s land and sell encroached land to occupants through legitimate means. “By selling the encroached land, the government plans to raise a corpus fund of around ₹10,000 crore for the temple,” officials said.

The government believes it may be difficult to physically reclaim land that has remained under private occupation for years. Under the proposed plan, encroachers will be required to pay the prescribed penalty and dues to the Puri Jagannath Temple. In return, the land will be formally recorded in their names.