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BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, March 22, 2003: The Orissa Government will soon come up with a “culture policy” designed to stop the blatant commercialization of Lord Jagannath of Puri, state Panchayatiraj Minister Damodar Rout told the assembly today. The minister’s announcement came after Speaker Sarat Kumar Kar directed the state government to take necessary steps to stop the “desecration and commercialization” of Lord Jagannath. “The Government would take some definite measures immediately to stop commercial use of the Lord Jagannath’s name,” Rout said, adding it would soon come out with a culture policy which would include banning vulgar displays of the Lord. The speaker’s direction came in response to pleas by many members about the blatant misuse of Lord Jagannath’s name in cheap cassettes and albums telecast by Doordarshan. This move comes on the heels of the Office of Trademarks Registry recent statement before the Delhi High Court saying, “The Emblems and Names Act of 1950 does not envisage inclusion of names of Gods and Goddesses in the schedule of the act. Only emblems of national importance and of secular institutions are sought to be protected.”

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