BHUBANESWAR: Despite several requests by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has yet again organised an untimely Rath Yatra - this time, at its Madhuban ashram in Rishikesh.
On October 7, the ISKCON Rishikesh unit conducted Rath Yatra of the three deities and carried them around in a four-wheeler decorated like a chariot. The videos of the Rath Yatra were uploaded on its official Instagram page. Both the date and the fashion in which the yatra was carried out, were not in adherence to the scriptures and the well-established traditions of Shree Jagannath temple at Puri.
The annual Rath Yatra was celebrated in Puri on June 27 this year. As per an agreement entered with SJTA, ISKCON holds Rath Yatra as per the Srimandir schedule in all its temples within the country. “But this time, it has violated the agreement by holding the festival in the month of October. Usually, when it comes to ISKCON temples in other countries, there is no fixed schedule for Rath Yatra. Strict action should be taken by the Srimandir administration against ISKCON which has become a regular offender,” said Bidyadhar Pattjoshi, a Jagannath culture scholar.
Earlier this year, at a meeting chaired by the Gajapati, ISKCON was given a 100-page document by SJTA explaining why its untimely Rath Yatras were against the temple tradition. The Gajapati King had also cautioned ISKCON of legal action if it continued to ignore the Srimandir’s ritualistic norms.