Puri king calls for reforms to hold Rath Yatra inside Jagannath temple
File photo: Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb
BHUBANESWAR: A day after the Supreme Court stalled the June 23 Rath Yatra amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Puri king and chairman of the Jagannath Temple managing committee Dibyasingha Deb on Friday advocated for reforms in the shrine’s record of rights so that an alternative way of observing the festival could be found.
The ROR is a rulebook for conducting the festivals and rituals in the temple.
At present, the temple ROR is silent on any arrangements or plans for the conduct of Rath Yatra inside the temple. It dwells on rituals that are traditionally performed inside as well as outside the temple during the Rath Yatra. Among the major rituals performed outside the temple are Pahandi (bringing deities from the temple onto the chariots), chhera pahanra (sweeping of the decks of the chariots by the Puri king) and Ratha Tana (pulling of the chariots from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple, which is the birthplace of the sibling deities).
“We are now faced with a new and extraordinary crisis as Rath Yatra rituals and pulling of chariots cannot be held outside the temple this year in accordance with the Supreme Court’s order. When the state government asked the temple managing committee to make alternative arrangements to observe some Rath-related rituals inside the temple, we looked at the ROR. But there is no mention of any road map in the ROR for the conduct of Rath Yatra rituals inside the temple premises,” Deb said after chairing an urgent managing committee meeting in Puri on Friday.
Adding that the new crisis calls for reforms, the Gajapati Maharaja said a new chapter will be added to the history of the Jagannath Temple when fresh sets of arrangements are incorporated in the ROR to guide the temple administration in holding the rituals associated with the festival inside the temple in times of crisis. He added that religious experts, including Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and Brahmin pundits of Mukti Mandap (a revered body of Brahmins in the Jagannath Temple), will help the shrine administration prepare the alternative Rath arrangements inside the temple.
The king said Rath Yatra could not be held several times in the past during invasions by Mughal rulers as the deities had to be shifted from the temple to hidden locations for safety. For the first time, such a crisis has surfaced when Rath Yatra cannot be held despite the presence of the deities inside the temple.