Bhubaneswar: Puri’s titular king Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb said that the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC) will seek the Central government’s intervention after ISKCON rejected the request to hold overseas Rath Yatra celebrations in accordance with the festival calendar of Puri and traditional scriptures.
Voicing concern over ISKCON organising Rath Yatra celebrations abroad round the year, Deb said he had personally written to the new ISKCON chairman on July 4, this year regarding deviations from established traditions.
“I once again wrote to the new ISKCON chairman, … drawing his attention that ISKCON GBC has already decided that Snana Yatra, the Lord’s birthday, is to be celebrated on the specific tithi, and that is not being done. It is a breach of our Sanatana Vaidika Dharma that you are taking the Moola Vigraha out of the temple when you are not supposed to take Him out,” the Puri King was quoted by ANI as saying.
However, ISKCON has conveyed that it will not revisit its decision on conducting Rath Yatra celebrations outside India throughout the year, he said.
“On the 7th of July, ISKCON Governing Body Commission gave us the reply that so far as Rath Yatra outside India is concerned, there is no further discussion which is required and they stick to their decision of organising Rath Yatra around the year in various countries outside India,” he said.
Deb said the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee has now decided to seek the Centre’s intervention after consulting the Odisha government. “Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, in consultation with the state government, is set to bring the matter to the notice of the Central Government,” he said.
The Puri King further stated that when the ISKCON GBC chairman took the first decision on October 19, 2025, he immediately brought the matter to the notice of the Prime Minister through a letter. “I personally met the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 20, 2026, submitted our representation and explained the matter to her,” he said.
Stating that the temple administration will now escalate its efforts, Deb said a delegation would visit New Delhi after the conclusion of this year’s Rath Yatra. “Now, as things have come to a particular situation, the Temple Managing Committee has decided that after the Rath Yatra is completed, a high-level delegation will go to Delhi to once again bring the matter to the notice of the President, the Prime Minister and other ministers and seek their intervention,” he added.
