Over 1,000 attend Jagannath consecration ceremony in Sydney

Bhubaneswar: Over 1,000 people attended the four-day ‘pranpratistha’ (consecration) ceremony of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra at Sri Durga Devi Devasthanam, Regents Park, in Sydney, Australia, from March 24 to 27.

The ceremony, organised by Shree Jagannatha Consciousness ANZ, was conducted by Surya Narayan Dash Sharma from Puri, who performed the rituals according to the traditions of the Jagannath Temple and explained them to the attendees as well. After the ceremony, the idols were taken to Shri Jagannatha Temple, Castle Hill, Sydney — the first shrine in Australia dedicated to the Lord — on Ram Navami. Many Odia families participated as ‘karta’ during the ceremony.

Darshan started on Friday evening and will continue through the weekend. Two local priests will conduct the daily rituals. “Witnessing the ‘pranapratistha’ of Lord Jagannath in Sydney was once in a lifetime experience for me. It is particularly heartening when it happened so far from home,” said Sujeet Jena, a board chair of Shree Jagannatha Consciousness ANZ. The temple will serve as a spiritual and cultural hub for families across New South Wales.

The idols were carved from neem wood in Puri in Oct 2025 under the guidance of Surya Narayan, after an order for the same was placed in Sept that year. The idols of Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra are 2.5ft in height, while those of Goddess Subhadra and Sudarshan chakra are around 2ft.

The organisation spent around Rs 25 lakh on the idols, ‘chandua’, clothes and utensils of the deities, flight courier and paperwork to get the idols to Sydney. The idols were transported from Kolkata to Singapore and then to Sydney by flight.

A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion, during which the students of Nrutyashree Dance Academy and Baijayanti Singh presented Odissi performance.

Hindi council of Australia president Sai Pravastu and oceanic zone sampark pramukh Ramyavaran Ramaswamy were present on the occasion. The Shree Jagannatha Consciousness ANZ also plans to buy land for another Jagannath Temple in Sydney.