‘Rath Pratistha’ gets temple nod, servitors hopeful about fest fate
Bhubaneswar: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has asked the shrine purohits (priests) to ‘remain in readiness’ to worship the chariots for Rath Yatra on June 23 even as the mystery around who will actually pull the Raths remains.
In accordance with tradition, temple purohits will consecrate the chariots (‘Rath Pratistha’) outside the shrine on the morning of Rath Yatra. The ritual is always conducted just before the placing of the sibling deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra onto the chariots.
Temple purohit Siddheswar Mohapatra confirmed that he had received a written communication from SJTA on the matter. “We are hopeful that the chariots will be pulled. How they will be pulled is up to the government to decide. We are ready for Rath Pratistha,” he said.
While SJTA refused to comment, servitors said the green signal given to Rath Pratistha had made them hopeful that Rath Yatra would be held as usual, albeit without devotees. “The government should allow the pulling of the chariots by servitors and police. Since the government is most likely to deny devotees the chance to attend the festival this time, there will be no worry about crowd control and traffic regulation,” said servitor Binayak Dasmohapatra, who on Tuesday met a few ministers in Bhubaneswar to discuss Rath Yatra.
Notably, the servitors are not in favour of deployment of heavy machinery or elephants to pull the chariots, as suggested by the Orissa high court. Congress MLA Suresh Rautray, too, on Tuesday said chief minister Naveen Patnaik should clear the air soon over the form the festival would take.
In another development, the Puri district administration has asked the municipality to evict roadside vendors from both sides of the 3-km-Grand Road where the chariots would be tugged (if allowed) from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple.