Odisha govt to take final call on Puri Rath Yatra after May 3
BHUBANESWAR: Amid serious concerns about the novel coronavirus, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration on Friday said a decision on the fate of the Puri Rath Yatra will be taken only after the nationwide lockdown is lifted on May 3. The decision came hours after chief minister Naveen Patnaik dialled prime minister Narendra Modi and discussed Rath Yatra matter.
While Odisha’s biggest festival is scheduled to take place on June 23, the temple’s managing committee said they will wait for the revised guidelines from the Centre and the state government before taking a final call on the matter.
“We are bound to obey the instructions of the Centre and the state government. Let’s wait till the end of the May 3 lockdown and the subsequent guidelines from the government,” Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, chairman of the Jagannath Temple managing committee, said after a video conference with other members of the committee.
Deb said the managing committee members were in favour of celebrating the Rath Yatra, but with restrictions. “The government will decide whether the Rath Yatra can be celebrated amid restrictions or not. It will decide whether the festival can be celebrated safely through the deployment of police and other staff. Religious freedom should not be exercised at the cost of people’s lives and their safety,” Deb said.
Thousands of police personnel, including some central forces and administrative officials, are usually deployed in Puri to conduct the nine-day Rath Yatra that sees a footfall of more than seven lakh devotees every year. With Covid-19 showing no sign of a let-up, the government may not take the risk of allowing a mass congregation for the festival.
Deb, the scion of the erstwhile royal kingdom of Puri, said the construction of the chariots cannot start before May 3. According to tradition, the construction work of the chariots must begin on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on April 26. In view of the lockdown restrictions and guidelines, the rituals associated with Akshaya Tritiya, which is generally observed outside the 12th century shrine, will not be held before May 3.
“Since we cannot start construction of chariots on Akshaya Tritiya and observe related festivals, including Chandan Yatra outside the temple before May 3, we have sought the advice of Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati Maharaj ji to guide us on alternate ways so that our religious tradition and rituals can be preserved. We will again meet the top seer and discuss regarding Rath Yatra after receiving revised guidelines from the government post-May 3,” Deb said.
Chhatisa Nijog, a prominent body of several servitors’ associations of the temple, proposed to the government to host Rath Yatra without the participation of devotees. Nijog’s chief (nayak) Janardan Pattajoshi Mohapatra wrote to the temple administration and suggested that those, associated with the construction of chariots and rituals of Rath Yatra should be subjected to Covid-19 test and isolation. The Nijog suggested that devotees should be banned from attending the festival.
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