india

Updated: Apr 24, 2020 21:24 IST

Decision on conducting the annual rath yatra at Puri will be taken only after the nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic is lifted on May 3, said Jagannath temple authorities on Friday.

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a discussion with chief minister Naveen Patnaik. However, it was not clear what the leaders discussed.

With the Covid-19 cases surging to 94 in Odisha, Puri king Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb, who heads the management committee of the 12th century Jagannath temple, said it is the responsibility of both the Centre and state government to decide whether the rath yatra, scheduled for June 23, can be held in presence of only servitors and officials or not at all.

Any decision in this regard, will be based on the revised guidelines which are expected to come up after the lockdown ends on May 3, said Deb.

The temple doors have been shut since March 20 due to the pandemic. Only day-to-day rituals are being done by the temple priests.

“As per the present restrictions, no congregation or religious functions can be organised in temples and religious institutions. We have to respect and abide by the guidelines for lockdown. However, the construction of chariots cannot be taken up till May 3,” said Dibyasingha Deb, who chaired a meeting of the temple administration.

The Puri king, who is first among equals of all devotee of Lord Jagannath, said most of the rituals including Snan Yatra, Anasara Bidhi, Sri Gundicha Yatra, Bahuda Yatra, Niladri Bije of the Lord will be held in the month of June.

“As there is still time, we will wait for the new guidelines after the lockdown ends. The Managing Committee will conduct a meeting after the guidelines are released,” he said.

About a million devotees throng Puri for rath yatra every year for the 10-day long festival, the most important one in Odisha.

The Puri king said that the chariot construction work that was supposed to start on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya and Chandan Yatra on April 26 will also stay suspended till May 3.

The Gajapati and officials led by Puri temple chief administrator Dr Krishan Kumar met Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati seeking his guidance on conduct of the temple rituals of the rath yatra like Akshay Tritiya as there will be no public participation during lockdown period.

Meanwhile, Nayak Patajoshi Janardhan Mohapatra, who heads Chhatisa Nijog, a body of temple servitors(priests) of Puri temple, suggested that instead of scrapping the festival totally, it should be scaled down and conducted in a controlled environment with the help of police personnel and temple servitors.

“The police personnel and the servitors should be identified, tested and kept in isolation well in advance. The government should announce that the festival would be conducted with absolutely no participation by public,” said Mohapatra.

If the car festival is not held this year, it would be the first time in the last 284 years when it could not be held.

Jagannath temple historian Bhaskar Mishra said in the last 425 years of car festival, the event has been scrapped 32 times, mostly during invasion. “It was scrapped for the first time in 1568 when Kala Pahad alias Kala Chand Roy, a general of Bengal king Suleiman Kirrani attacked the temple and pillaged the deities. For the next 9 years, Rath Yatra could not be held,” said Mishra.

The last time the car festival could not be held was between 1733 and 1735 when Mohammed Taqi Khan, deputy governor of Odisha, attacked the Jagannath temple, forcing the shifting of the idols to Ganjam district, said Mishra.

The uncertainty over the rath yatra comes at a time when the Naveen Patnaik government is gearing to rebuild Puri as a world heritage city pumping in Rs 3,208 crore in infrastructure development.