Pressure on govt to clear Rath stand
Bhubaneswar: A day after the Orissa high court left it to the state government to take a call on the Rath Yatra amid the coronavirus pandemic, servitors of the Jagannath Temple and opposition political parties on Wednesday mounted pressure on the government to announce its stand at the earliest.
The Rath Yatra, scheduled for June 23, is less than two weeks from now.
The servitors, who have been pushing for the Rath Yatra without the participation of devotees, have asked the government to finalize the itinerary of the rituals as soon as possible.
“We have only 12 days left for the Rath Yatra. However, everyone is in the dark about the future of the annual festival. The work on the chariot construction is nearing its completion. The government should clear the confusion to avoid chaos and resentment,” Ganapati Dasmohapatra, spokesperson of the temple’s Daitapati Nijog, told mediapersons in Puri. Earlier, the Nijog had urged the state government to host the Rath Yatra without the participation of devotees in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Dasmohapatra added, “We had proposed to the government to allow the pulling of chariots by police personnel and servitors. All rituals of the Rath Yatra should be observed inside the temple, and on the chariots when outside amid precautions,”
Following the Covid-19 scare, the temple administration had for the first time observed the Debasnan Purnima festival on June 5 in the absence of devotees.
The ban on religious congregation outside the temple till June 30 and strict adherence to social distancing norms may cast a shadow on this year’s Rath Yatra, especially the chariot pulling exercise. A large number of servitors are required to shift the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra from the temple onto the chariots in the Pahandi procession. This apart, a posse of policemen, too, are required to pull the chariots. It will be a difficult task to ensure social distancing during the rituals. “If the government is apprehending that there can be a surge in Covid-19 cases because of the Pahandi procession and chariot pulling, then a crowded vegetable market or grocery shop poses an equal threat. The risk has further increased after the resumption of trains, buses and flights,” servitor Ramachandra Dasmohapatra said, adding that the Rath Yatra and chariot pulling should be allowed.
Uncertainty over the Rath Yatra has also triggered a political row. BJP leader Prithviraj Harichandan has blamed the state government for dilly-dallying on the Rath Yatra and said it was playing with the sentiments of the devotees.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo sought an early response on the festival for the convenience of the people. Meanwhile, BJD spokesperson Amar Satpathy asked the opposition parties to refrain from politicising the Rath Yatra and said the government would take a decision soon after consulting Puri Shankaracharya and king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb.