Bhubaneswar: A key committee of the Puri Jagannath temple Tuesday rejected the ISKCON’s claim that holding Rath Yatra on random days was in accordance with the scriptures, and asserted that it was an attempt to mislead devotees around the world.
ISKCON and the Puri temple administration have been at loggerheads over the “untimely” organisation of the Rath Yatra and other festivals related to Lord Jagannath outside India.
“The press release of ISKCON National Communications Office, New Delhi, circulated in the media on 12th July 2026, contains false statements and seeks to cast aspersions with the intention of misleading the public with regard to untimely Shree Jagannatha Ratha Yatra,” Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said in a statement.
“ISKCON’s Rath Yatra festivals are fully permitted and in complete accordance with the ‘shastras’ are absolutely false,” the SJTA said.
When contacted by PTI over the phone, ISKCON’s Country Director of Communications & National Spokesperson, Yudhistir Govinda Das, refused to comment on the SJTA’s views.
“It is difficult to comment as we have not seen the SJTA statement,” he said.
Scholars of the SJTA and the ISKCON held a meeting March 20, 2025, in Bhubaneswar.
At that meeting, relying upon scriptures and certain other grounds, ISKCON Scholars sought to justify the celebration of Ratha Yatra outside India on various dates throughout the year. However, they were rejected by the temple scholars by citing authentic scriptures and Puranas, the SJTA said.
The temple authorities also accused ISKCON of attempting to create an impression that Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the titular king of Puri, has directly or indirectly approved the untimely celebration of Ratha-yatra.
“This is a deliberate and mischievous statement casting aspersions on the integrity and conduct of Gajapati Maharaja,” the statement said.
Deb visited a Rath Yatra programme of the ISKCON in Berlin, Germany.
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