Rath Yatra: Amit Shah Talks To Puri Gajapati Maharaja

Bhubaneswar: With Supreme Court Chief Justice S A Bobde scheduled to hear the modification petitions on Rath Yatra in Puri via video conferencing from his residence in Nagpur within a few hours, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday spoke to Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb about conducting the annual sojourn of the sibling deities in the Pilgrim Town.

In a tweet, Odisha BJP unit president Samir Mohanty said that the Union Home Minister, on being directed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussed the rituals pertaining to Rath Yatra with the Puri Gajapati Maharaja.

Notably, the Centre on Monday argued in favour of holding Rath Yatra in Puri.

Following June 18 SC staying Rath Yatra in Puri and elsewhere in Odisha in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple modification petitions were filed in the apex court for a partial modification in the order.

The Jagannath Temple Managing Committee in a meeting on May 30 was of the opinion that if the Rath Yatra is not held this year, the devotees will be deprived of the darshan of the Lords as they will then remain inside the Anasara Ghar for one year. Moreover, there will be no Rath Yatra of the Lords for the next 12 years in accordance with the tradition of the temple.

Though the temple administration in a letter had apprised the Law Department of the opinion, the state government had not put up the opinion of the temple managing committee before the Supreme Court during hearing a writ petition filed by the Odisha Vikash Parishad to stall Rath Yatra on June 18.