Ratha Yatra: Puri titular king urges CM to approach SC seeking modification in order

At the same time effective measures should be taken to ensure that there is no spread of COVID-19 due to it, he said. "Under the aforesaid circumstances and in the interest of countless devotees around the world, I request you(Patnaik) to reconsider this sensitive issue of stopping Ratha Yatra in Puri and to direct appropriate steps to be immediately taken by the state government for approaching Honble Supreme Court for a partial modification of its order dated June 18 so as to permit performance of Ratha Yatra only at Puri the Moola- peetha of Lord Jagannath," Deb added.

Stating that the Supreme Court's stay on Lord Jagannath's annual Ratha Yatra this year will affect crores of devotees across the world, Puri's titular king Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb on Saturday urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to move the apex court for permission to hold the festival only in Puri without any congregation. In a letter to Patnaik, Deb, who is the chairman of Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, said the committee and the Chhatisa Nijog, a body of servitors, unanimously appeals to the state government to approach the Supreme Court for modification of its June 18 order which had stayed the holding of the Rath Yatra due to coronavirus concerns.

Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati has also spoken in favour of reconsidering and modifying the SC order so that the festival can be held in the seaside pilgrim town on June 23 as scheduled, he said. Deb said the state cabinet had directed the temple managing committee to implement the SC order for ensuring the performance of all rituals of the festival within the precincts of the Sri Jagannath temple.

The Gajapati Maharaj, who is considered the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, said the holding of the Ratha Yatra in Puri is sanctioned and mandated by the sacred scriptures and has been faithfully observed by the successive rulers of Odisha down the ages. Holding the festival on a prescribed day is also statutorily mandatory by the Record of Right of the Puri Shri Jagannath Temple (Administration) Act, 1952, he said.

In the course of Odishas long history, Ratha Yatra has not been held only when the conduct of it had become impossible, for instance during attacks by Mughal forces during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries when the images of the deities had to be hidden in remote places, he said. The yatra, however, has not been stopped for any other reason whatsoever and has been faithfully performed even in the midst of the worst natural disasters and epidemics, Deb said.

The present crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic is not a situation which makes the holding of Ratha Yatra impossible, he said, As the temple managing committee had pointed out it can be held in Puri without any congregation of the general people and with the state government taking appropriate steps to prevent the spread of the contagion, he said. Deb further said that if Ratha Yatra is not held this year in Puri, it will hurt the religious sentiments of countless devotees around the world who watch it live every year on electronic media.

Stressing that the Ratha Yatra in Puri is of special significance and importance and should not be stopped, the Puri King said the state government may stop the holding of this festival elsewhere in the state. The festival in Puri should be permitted as a special case. At the same time effective measures should be taken to ensure that there is no spread of COVID-19 due to it, he said.

"Under the aforesaid circumstances and in the interest of countless devotees around the world, I request you(Patnaik) to reconsider this sensitive issue of stopping Ratha Yatra in Puri and to direct appropriate steps to be immediately taken by the state government for approaching Hon'ble Supreme Court for partial modification of its order dated June 18 so as to permit the performance of Ratha Yatra only at Puri the Moola- peetha of Lord Jagannath," Deb added. The apex court had on Thursday stayed the nine-day Rath Yatra festival scheduled to begin on June 23 and all activities related to it in the wake of the pandemic.

The Odisha cabinet in an emergency meeting held on the same day passed a resolution asking the temple committee to carry out rituals inside the Puri shrine, in accordance with the direction of the court.