BHUBANESWAR: After the controversy surrounding untimely hosting of Rath Yatras outside India, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has decided to find a resolution for celebration of festivals of Lord Jagannath at its temples worldwide in conformity with Puri Srimandir’s schedules.
The ISKCON’s Houston chapter on Wednesday issued a release stating there is a meeting planned in India next month between ISKCON and Puri Srimandir authorities for a detailed discussion on the issue and to seek mutual agreement whereby the temple’s traditional calendar can be honoured as far as rituals and festivals of Lord Jagannath are concerned.
This comes a day after the Houston chapter decided to cancel its proposed Rath Yatra on November 9 following strong reservations from Puri King Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, Srimandir servitors and followers of Jagannath Culture.
Although the Houston temple is going ahead with the event, which it has named as Festival of Bliss, the temple will feature idols of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai - the deities of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, on the chariot instead of idols of the Trinity.
“We had planned for the deities of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra to be the center of the chariot parade. However, there is a disagreement with some of our local friends and those in Jagannath Puri Orissa, the original temple of Lord Jagannath, about whether it is appropriate to have Jagannath in a Rath Yatra parade this time of year,” the release by the Houston ISKCON temple stated. Compliance to ancient traditions and calendars is the priority, it added.
On Tuesday, the Puri Gajapati had pointed out that although the governing council of ISKCON had adopted a resolution in 2021 that all ISKCON temples within the country will celebrate Rath Yatra as per Puri Srimandir’s ritual, there was no such guideline for the society’s temples outside India. He had asked the ISKCON’s governing body council to adopt a resolution in this regard.