Puri: In a major development amid the ongoing calendar dispute over the celebration of Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra, Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON group of temples, with spiritual headquarters at Vrindavan and official registered headquarters at ISKCON Bangalore, has accepted the request of Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the Chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC) and the Aadya Sevak (first servitor) of Puri.
The decision marks a significant shift, as the group commits to holding Rath Yatras worldwide strictly within the traditional nine-day window of the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra.
Speaking in a video message, coinciding with Rath Yatra celebrations, spokesperson of Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON group of temples, Madhu Pandit Prabhu, on Thursday said: “As of now, ISKCON is not adhering to the proper tithi, the sacred calendar, to conduct these Rath Yatras. It conducts Rath Yatras anytime during the year as per the convenience of the preaching of our dharma. But recently, Jagannath Puri Temple Management Committee, headed by its chairman His Highness Gajapati Maharaja, has requested the two groups of ISKCON temples all over the world — one headquartered at Vrindavan (Chandraodaya Mandir) and the other group of ISKCON temples headquartered in Mayapur — to conduct Rath Yatras within a window of nine days from the Puri Rath Yatra. We have responded to Gajapati Maharaja fully accepting his request that Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON group of temples in India and abroad will celebrate Rath Yatra only as per the nine days window that Jagannath Temple Management Committee has recommended.”
The group highlighted that as a globally recognised leader of the Sanatana Dharma tradition, ISKCON now bears a greater responsibility to preserve and respect the ancient tithis (sacred lunar calendar days). “We want to respect and honour this request coming from a revered person as His Highness Gajapati Maharaj, the Adya Sevak of Jagannath representing the centuries-old tradition of Jagannath temple. The ISKCON movement has become a recognised leader within the Sanatana tradition and with that stature comes a greater responsibility too. All the more, we should honour the centuries-old tradition,” he added.
The spokesperson contextualised the history of the date variations, noting that ISKCON’s founder-acharya, Srila Prabhupada, kept the very first international Rath Yatra in San Francisco in 1967 strictly on the correct tithi. While Srila Prabhupada later permitted flexible dates to help the infant movement establish roots globally in the late 1960s and 70s, the Vrindavan-Bangalore group asserted that under current circumstances, Prabhupada himself would have honoured the Puri temple’s request out of respect for the holy Dham. “Let’s not forget that Jagannath Puri is the original dham of the very Jagannath, who is riding on all our Raths, all over the world. Jagannath Puri is his eternal home,” he noted.
This development follows accusations by the SJTMC that ISKCON violated sacred scriptures by scheduling the chariot festival outside the traditional calendar. The dispute escalated further after ISKCON Chairman Madhusevita Dasa, in a reply dated July 7, rejected Gajapati Maharaja’s request, stating “There is no more to add, and therefore we respectfully bow out of this discussion once and for all.” In response, the titular king of Puri wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking their intervention to stop what he called “untimely” Rath Yatras and preserve the scriptural identity of Lord Jagannath’s Snana Yatra and Rath Yatra. The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) also accused the organisation of misleading devotees worldwide after ISKCON’s National Communications Office in New Delhi on July 12 asserted that its overseas Rath Yatra celebrations are fully in accordance with the shastras. The temple body also objected to ISKCON’s reference to Puri king’s past participation in the organisation’s Rath Yatra in Berlin in 1991-92. “ISKCON is attempting to create an impression that Gajapati Maharaja’s participation amounted to his approval of the untimely celebration. This is a deliberate and mischievous statement casting aspersions on his integrity and conduct,” the SJTA asserted.
The Vrindavan-Bangalore ISKCON group expressed disappointment over the Governing Body Commission’s (GBC) rigid stance and issued an open plea: “I humbly request the ISKCON group headquartered in Mayapur to reconsider their decision in the light of present changed circumstances and align with the centuries-old tradition of Jagannath Puri. This will set an example of unity, cooperation with other Sanatani groups and respect for the holy dham of Purushottam Kshetra.”
