Will Jagannath Dham revive the tourism industry in Digha? Four days after the grand inauguration of a replica of Puri’s 12th-century shrine, traders of Digha are hoping the answer is yes.

“I hope the temple will add special value and attract a large number of tourists. In recent years, we’ve seen people choosing other seaside destinations in the district like Mandarmani and Shankarpur over Digha because of the condition of the beach. A temple will surely encourage visitors to come here, even if for a day,” said Swapan Jana, who owns a confectionery shop near the New Digha seashore.

Multiple sources said that Digha, once the epicentre of tourism in East Midnapore, has been losing visitors as hundreds of new resorts have sprung up over the past two decades in places like Shankarpur, Mandarmani, Udaipur and Chandpur, offering more attractions.

Odisha’s Talsari beach, only 7km from Digha, is also a popular tourist destination among Bengalis.

A senior minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet stated that when she announced plans to build a Jagannath temple in Digha in 2018, her primary goal was to use pilgrimage tourism to boost the local economy.

“You may argue that Didi built the temple to counter the BJP’s Hindu narrative. But consider when she first conceived of the project — it was an initiative to make Digha a second option for Bengalis apart from Puri’s Jagannath shrine,” said the minister, adding that Digha is well connected to Calcutta by both
bus and train.

“If you plan to visit Puri, you have to book a train ticket three months in advance. In the case of Digha, you simply go to Esplanade and catch an air-conditioned bus for a four-hour ride. So, for those visiting Puri primarily for the shrine, Digha now offers a similar spiritual experience with a temple by the sea,” he added.

Chitralekha Bijli, a school teacher from Ballygunge in Calcutta, visited Digha this weekend with her family.

“I had planned to visit Digha during the summer vacation, probably in the third week of this month. However, the opening of the Jagannath temple inspired me to advance my trip by two weeks,” she said.

Sources in the state and district administration said that since the temple’s inauguration, Digha has seen a significant surge in visitors, especially on weekends.

Purnendu Maji, the district magistrate of East Midnapore, said the temple was indeed a major attraction.

“I can’t provide exact figures, but based on tokens distributed at the temple’s shoe-keeping counters, we estimate at least 50,000 visitors per day so far,” Maji said.

An official explained that 2,000 tokens are available at the temple’s shoe counter, and they are being recycled five to six times daily.

“At least four people use a single token. So, using simple arithmetic, the footfall is likely between 40,000 to 50,000 daily,” the official said.

Bipradas Chakraborty, joint secretary of the Digha-Shankarpur Hoteliers Association, claimed that while the number of tourists in hotels during April weekends was around 15,000–20,000, it doubled over the first weekend of May.

“The new Jagannath temple, along with the summer vacation, has given us a much-needed boost,” said Chakraborty.

However, some traders are cautious about the long-term impact.

“We need to wait at least a month to see if the flow of tourists continues. We usually get a good number of visitors during summer vacation. If Jagannath Dham continues to attract tourists throughout the year, it will be of big help,” said a trader in New Digha.