BHUBANESWAR: As the Centre geared up to bring back Kohinoor diamond from London, priests of Jagannath Temple in Puri have renewed their longstanding demand of placing the famed jewel on the crown of Lord Jagannath. The priests on Sunday staged a demonstration in front of the 12th century shrine and demanded the diamond be returned to the temple administration.According to a letter preserved in the National Archives in New Delhi, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled large parts of northern India in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, had wished to offer the Kohinoor, to Lord Jagannath. The British, however, took away the diamond from Ranjit Singh's son, Duleep Singh, in 1849.“Kohinoor is Lord Jagannath’s property as it was offered to the deity by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The temple was recipient of a huge amount of gold from the Sikh ruler. The Odisha government should take up the issue with the Centre and take steps to bring Kohinoor back to Jagannath Temple,” said Sitikantha Panda, a priest.“We have historical records in which Maharaja Ranjit Singh wished to donate the Kohinoor to Jagannath Temple. The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration should take the initiative for its return,” said Harekrushna Pratihari, another priest.The shrine priests, who gathered outside the temple under the aegis of Jagannath Sena, a religious outfit, took a dig at the state government for its lackadaisical attitude towards Kohinoor. “Several times in the past we raised the issue of Kohinoor, whose original place is Jagannath Temple. But the state government never staked claim,” said Jagannath Sena’s founder Priyadarshan Pattnaik.The 105 carat Kohinoor, now adorning the crown of the British monarch, has been kept under tight security in the Tower of London in Britain. Odisha Congress too joined the priests’ bandwagon of Kohinoor’s return to Jagannath Temple. “The jewel is Lord Jagannath's property and should be handed over by the British government to Jagannath Temple,” said state Congress president Prasad Harichandan.