Utkal Deewas celebrations in Siliguri. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, April 10: Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities Balaram and Subhadra will soon get a new abode in north Bengal.

If everything goes well, the first big temple of the incarnation of Krishna will come up in three years’ time near the Iskcon Mandir complex in Hyderpara here.

Siliguri Utkal Sanskrutik Samaj is spearheading the effort, the result of a proposal first made last year by Sadananda Nayak, a well-known surgeon. “He donated four cottah of land to the south of the Iskcon complex,” said samaj secretary P.K. Biswal. “Unfortunately, Nayak passed away soon after. But his son Ashok, who is also a doctor and the president of our organisation, has taken up the task.”

Another four cottah of land has been purchased adjacent to the first plot. “The temple will now be built on an 8,000 sq ft area,” said Duryadhan Mohanty, the cultural secretary of the samaj. “It will be an exact replica of the temple in Puri.” The pandits and pandas will also be from Puri.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 40 lakh, to be collected as donations and subscriptions. The Orissa government has already given Rs 50,000 as seed funding, Biswal said. At a meeting of the samaj held on Sunday night after the Utkal Deewas celebrations, a temple steering committee was formed, Biswal added. The samaj has over 300 members here.