The Odisha government has accepted Puri royal family scion Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb’s request to move the Supreme Court seeking a review of its order cancelling the Rath Yatra in view of the pandemic.
“The State Government will take favourable action as legally permissible on the request of the Gajapati Maharaj when the writ petition… is taken up for hearing before the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the Odisha government said in a media release late on Sunday night.
The yatra, attended by around 10 lakh people every year, was scheduled to begin on June 23.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear petitions seeking a review of its June 18 order on Monday morning.
Pressure had been mounting from multiple quarters on the Odisha government to move the Supreme Court. So far, 17 petitions have been filed in court asking that the festival be allowed without the physical presence of devotees. The first to file a petition was Aftab Hossen, 20, who has pleaded that the Yatra be permitted under restrictions.
Earlier, Gajapati Deb, who heads the Shri Jagannath Temple Management Committee, had supported the Supreme Court’s order, but did a U-turn after facing criticism. The court had said Lord Jagannath “would not forgive us if we allow” the event amid the pandemic.
Gajapati Deb has written to chief minister Naveen Patnaik urging him to seek a modification of the court order.
In the letter, Deb has told Naveen: “If the Rath Yatra is not held this year in Puri, it will hurt the religious sentiments of countless devotees around the world who watch the sacred Yatra live every year on electronic media.
“As his very name indicates, Lord Jagannath during this sacred festival comes out of the temple and rides on the chariots so that all beings not only on this planet but in the entire universe can be blessed by his darshan and obtain his grace. It is an established tradition of Sanatana Vaidika Dharma that the presiding deities do not at all leave their throne/sanctum sanctorum.
“But Lord Jagannath himself created an exception to this general rule by coming out of the temple to bless all beings as he is the Lord of the Universe. This is one of the main objectives of the Ratha Yatra in Puri as mentioned in the sacred scriptures.”
Gajapati Deb said the temple management committee and members of the Chhattisha Nijog, the highest body of servitors in Puri, had considered the apex court’s order and decided unanimously to appeal to the state government to immediately seek a review.