Bhubaneswar: Authorities in Rajasthan have stopped a Rath Yatra proposed to be held in Sikar on Friday after Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) objected to the observance of the festival by deviating from the festival calendar of Puri.
Sources said Sikar District Magistrate Ashish Modi issued direction for stopping the Rath Yatra, acting on a letter sent by Puri Collector and Deputy Chief Administrator of SJTA, Dibyajyoti Parida,
The proposed Rath Yatra was slated to be organised by Biswa Sanatan Dharma Seva Sansthan and Shri Khatu Shyam Mandal.
The SJTA informed the Sikar authorities that the proposed event was not in accordance with the almanac and the traditions associated with the sacred festival. It requested the administration in Rajasthan’s Sikar to ensure that the festival was not held on an untimely date.
Following the communication, the Sikar District Magistrate instructed the Superintendent of Police to take necessary steps in this regard. The local tehsildar also appealed to the organisers to refrain from conducting the festival on the scheduled date, which was not in alignment with the traditional Hindu calendar.
The SJTA of Puri had earlier urged the organisers to celebrate the Rath Yatra only according to the prescribed date.
It may be noted that holding of untimely Rath Yatra by ISKCON has triggered outrage among devotees of Lord Jagannath across Odisha and beyond. A request made by Puri’s titular king Gajapati Maharaja DIbyasingha Deb to refrain from organising the sacred car festival dates different from that fixed in the festival calendar of Puri has been rejected by ISKCON which has further angered devotees, servitors, researchers and others.
Expressing grave concern over ISKCON’s rejection of Puri Gajapati Maharaja’s request to organise Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra abroad in accordance with the traditional Vedic date observed at the Puri Srimandir, King of Khandapada estate and former legislator Siddhartha Shekhar Singh Mardaraj has said the development is highly unfortunate.
In a press release, Mardaraj said any violation of the rituals and ancient traditions of Lord Jagannath is not only disrespectful to the Odia community but also amounts to an affront to the religious sentiments of the entire Hindu society. He said that Puri Gajapati Maharaja is universally recognised as the first servitor of Lord Jagannath and as the living representative of the deity. Therefore, ISKCON’s outright rejection of his request is extremely inappropriate and unfortunate.
Mardaraj said the issue of celebrating Rath Yatra abroad should be examined seriously by the Puri Jagannath Temple administration, the Odisha Government, and the Central Government, and necessary steps should be taken.
He further said that at the Khandapada Jagannath Temple, all rituals and traditions of the Puri Srimandir are strictly followed, and all festivals, including Rath Yatra, are observed accordingly. He stated that preserving this tradition is the responsibility of all devotees of Lord Jagannath.
