BHUBANESHWAR: Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb on Tuesday said ISKCON should adopt a resolution on organizing all festivals and rituals of the Trinity in all its temples worldwide, as per the well-established traditions and rituals of the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri.
If required, legal options will be explored to prevent the untimely celebration of two of the most important rituals of the Trinity – Snana Yatra and Rath Yatra – by ISKCON.
Addressing a press conference over the issue here on Tuesday, Gajapati said the governing body commission of ISKCON will be approached to take steps in this regard to prevent the untimely organization of Snana Purnima and Rath Yatra outside India as it was done in the case of ISKCON temples within the country in 2021. “Enough is enough. We have been protesting this since 1967. Since this is an issue related to traditions, we are taking a peaceful path to address the issue. We will wait till the governing body commission meeting of ISKCON in March next year. Suppose they do not decide to stop such celebrations which are against Srimandir’s Record of Rights and do not confirm the Skanda Purana. In that case, we will be forced to resort to legal options,” the Gajapati said.
ISKCON’s Houston temple has announced to organize the Rath Yatra of the Trinity on November 9 and has named it ‘Festival of Bliss’. Gajapati has also written to the State Government about it.
Gajapati said ISKCON had first organized Rath Yatra in San Francisco, US, in 1967 and after this, it started installing the Chaturdha Vigrahas (idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Chakraraj Sudarshana) in all its temples across the world and organizing Rath Yatras.
“Sadly, every time, ISKCON violated the well-established traditions, particularly those mentioned in Skanda Purana – the ‘mula shastra of Jagannath Culture’ – as far as rituals and festivals of the Trinity are concerned and organized them in an untimely manner,” he said. Since the 1980s-90s, the Shree Jagannath temple managing committee took up the issue with the seers of ISKCON whenever there was an untimely celebration of the Snana Yatra and Rath Yatra but, the latter did not stop. In October and December 2007, when ISKCON announced Rath Yatra in its Ludhiana and Delhi temples respectively, the Srimandir managing committee protested it and ISKCON authorities were informed about the violations of scriptures but the latter went ahead.
Gajapati informed that whatever has been written in the Skanda Purana are commandments of Lord Jagannath Himself. “In Skanda Purana, Lord Jagannath himself instructs King Indradymna to perform his Snana Yatra on the full moon day of the Jyestha month (Jyestha Purnima) as the ‘tithi’ commemorates his birthday. And similar is the case with Rath Yatra,” he said.
Gajapati, who is also the chairman of the Srimandir managing committee, wrote to the ISKCON headquarters in Mayapur in 2008 urging them to abide by the well-established scriptures of Lord Jagannath but in vain. “While the discussions continued, ISKCON Bureau, India passed a resolution on July 21, 2021, that ISKCON centres within India will henceforth celebrate Rath Yatra according to the scriptures. This was a welcome move but the problem continues in ISKCON temples outside the country,” he said.
Stating that the Rath Yatra being organised by ISKCON is not Rath Yatra but a ‘Prachara Yatra’ to propagate Vaishnava Dharma, Gajapati said Lord Jagannath should not be included in any ‘Prachara Yatra’. He further informed that the ‘Prachara Yatra should not be called Rath Yatra and idols of the Chatutdha Vigraha should be not taken out of the sanctum sanctorum on any occasion except the two occasions mentioned in Skanda Purana – Snana Yatra and Rath Yatra. “ISKCON may take out ‘Utsava Vigraha or Chalanti Pranamas out of their temples on festive occasions. The Chaturdha Vigrahas are Moola Vigrahas (presiding deities),” he said.