Kendrapara: Even as the fate of Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath this year hangs in balance amid surging cases of coronavirus in Odisha, the scheduled festival of the Holy Trinity in other major shrines across the state like that of Lord Baldevjew in Kendrapara will not be celebrated in their usual splendid manner outside the temples.
Kendrapara Collector Samarth Verma informed media personnel that the Rath Yatra of the Lord Baladevjew will be restricted to temple premises to prevent an unnecessary congregation of people under the current circumstances.
28 temple committees in the state including that of Shri Haribaladev Temple in Baripada and at least 12 temples in Balasore district, 6 temples in Mayurbhanj district, 5 in Sambalpur district, 2 in Kandhamal, Bolangir and Gajapati have also announced not to hold Rath Yatra outside the temple premises abiding by the guidelines of both the Centre and state government
“In wake of the pandemic situation, it has been decided to conduct all the Rath Yatra rituals including the Lords return car festival, inside the temple premises going by the government guidelines,” a statement issued by the managing committee of Shri Haribaladev Temple.
As the pulling of chariots is not possible by maintaining social distancing norms, so the committees have decided not to hold the Rath Yatra outside the temple premises, said reports.
All the temples including Shree Jagannath temple in Puri are still closed for devotees since March 22 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PNN/Agencies
