Bhubaneswar: Puri King and chairman of Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC) Dibyasingha Deb Saturday urged the state government to move Supreme Court seeking a modification of its order issued June 18 to allow conduct of Ratha Yatra in Puri.
Deb wrote a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard after conveying two urgent meetings of SJTMC Friday.
“After considerable discussion on all relevant aspects of the matter, the Managing Committee and the Chhatisa Nijoga unanimously decided to appeal to the state government to immediately move the Supreme Court for a modification of the court’s order instant so as to allow the world-famous Ratha Yatra in Puri,” Deb said citing the reasons for such a move.
Performance of the annual Ratha Yatra in Puri is sanctioned and mandated by sacred scriptures, such as Skanda Purana, Brahma Purana, Neeladri Mahodaya, Bamadeba Samhita etc, he said.
In the course of Odisha’s long history, Deb said, the festival has not been held only when conduct of the Yatra has become impossible, for instance: during attacks by Mughal forces during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries when the Lords had to be hidden in remote places.
The festival, 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, he added.
Stating the present grave crisis caused by COVID pandemic is not a situation that renders conduct of Ratha Yatra in Puri impossible, the Temple Managing Committee on its meeting held May 30, 2020, said that the car festival in Puri can be held without any congregation of general public and with the state government taking appropriate steps to prevent spread of COVID-19.
If the festival is not held this year in Puri, it will hurt the religious sentiments of countless devotees around the world, the argued.
Further, Deb said conduct of the annual Ratha Yatra on the prescribed day is statutorily mandated by Record-of-Rights (Part II, pages 69-81) framed under The Puri Shri Jagannath Temple (Administration) Act, 1952. As per the Act, the temple managing committee is statutorily bound to ensure conduct of Ratha Yatra in accordance with the Record-of-Rights.
For the above reasons, the Ratha Yatra in Puri is of special significance and should not be stopped even if Ratha Yatra and other religious functions are not permitted elsewhere under COVID lockdown guidelines.
The king urged the government to allow the festival in Puri as a special case taking effective measures to ensure that there is no spread of COVID by conduct of the Yatra.
Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati has also urged the Supreme Court for reconsideration and modification of its order as to enable conduct of Ratha Yatra in Puri.
“Under the aforesaid circumstances and in the interest of countless devotees around the world, I request you 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 the SC for a partial modification of its order,” Deb wrote to the Chief Minister.