Puri Jagannath Temple Secures Trademark Protection for Five More Sacred Terms

Bhubaneswar, Jul 23: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has secured trademark protection for five more terms associated with the Puri temple, including ‘Jagannath Dham’, an official said on Thursday. In a social media post, the Shree Jagannath Temple Office, Puri, said the SJTA had achieved “a significant milestone” in its efforts to protect the identity and heritage of the 12th-century shrine. It said that following the second round of examination by the Trade Marks Registry, five additional trademark applications had been accepted for publication in the upcoming Trade Marks Journal. The terms are ‘Jagannath Dham’, ‘Shree Kshetra’, ‘Mahaprasada’, ‘Nilachakra’ and ‘Koili Vaikuntha’. “These registrations represent an important step towards safeguarding the names and identity associated with the sacred traditions of Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha, while strengthening their legal protection against misuse and unauthorised commercial exploitation,” the temple office said in a statement. The latest approvals came after the SJTA secured trademark registrations last month for the wordmarks ‘Ananda Bajara’ and ‘Patitapabana’, along with the logo mark of the Nilachakra under the Trade Marks Act. The SJTA had earlier applied for trademark registration of 29 names, terms and symbols associated with the Puri temple and Shree Jagannath culture. SJTA officials said the temple had moved the Trademark Registry after noticing that certain individuals and organisations were using sacred names and symbols associated with Lord Jagannath for commercial purposes. Sources said the temple administration felt the need to secure trademark protection for key names and symbols after the term ‘Jagannath Dham’ was used for a Jagannath temple at Digha in West Bengal. The move had triggered a controversy, following which the reference was removed.