Govt To Take Steps To Prevent Untimely Rath Yatra In Odisha, Says Law Minister

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will take steps to prevent untimely Rath Yatra anywhere in the state from coming year.

Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said this to the media persons on Monday in response to the objection raised by Shree Jagannath Sanskriti Parishad to the Rath Yatra organised at Konabira village under Komna block of Nuapada district three days ago.

The members of the Parishad met the minister on the day and expressed their objection to the pulling of chariots of Lord Jagannath and His siblings on an unscheduled day. They sought the minister’s intervention on such Rath Yatra which hurt the sentiments of Jagannath devotees.

Harichandan said he had assured the Parishad members of looking into the matter and talking to the temple administration. “We will take steps to ensure that untimely Rath Yatras are not organised at any place in the state from coming year,” he said.

The president of the Parishad, Sanchita Mohanty, said, “Though the ‘Tithi’ (date and time) of pulling chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra is clearly mentioned in Hindu scriptures and followed by Jagannath temple in Puri, some religious organisations are not following those. Such violation should not be allowed as it hurt the sentiments of the devotees.”

The Parishad had earlier opposed the untimely Rath Yatra of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in the US.