Bhubaneswar: Faced with stiff opposition from the devotees of Lord Jagannath for holding an untimely Rath Yatra at Houston in the USA, the ISKCON’s Bhubaneswar unit Tuesday said the organisation has cancelled its proposed chariot festival there November 9.
The devotees in Houston will instead perform another ritual – Goura Nitai Sankirtan Yatra, the religious body said in a statement here.
The decision to observe the festival in November, deviating from the normal practice at the Jagannath temple in Puri, where it is held in June or July, has not gone down well with the Lord devotees.
“Finally, respecting the sentiments of Odiya Devotees of Lord Jagannath, the Houston Rath Yatra is cancelled. They will organise Gour Nitai Sankirtan Yatra,” Tukaram Das, Vice President of ISKCON Bhubaneswar, said in the statement.
However, till 9.30 pm IST, the ISKCON Houston unit’s website showed that they will hold the “Festival of Bliss – Rath Yatra on November 9 between 10:30 am and 4:00 pm CST (local time).”
When contacted, a senior functionary of the organisation here said the website might not have revised the programme because of the Presidential elections in the US.
Earlier, the ISKCON had cancelled its plan to hold Lord Jagannath’s ‘Snan Yatra” (bathing ritual) scheduled on November 3.
The authorities of the Jagannath temple in Puri and several organisations protested against ISKCON’s decision to observe Rath Yatra in November.
Earlier in the day, the titular king of Puri, Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, said that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has to stop celebrating untimely Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath anywhere in the world.
Deb, who is also the first servitor of the Lord Jagannath said that the ISKCON must conduct rituals following scriptures and tradition.
“Enough is enough. ISKCON has been organising untimely Rath Yatras for decades. We will wait till March for its governing body meeting to take a final decision in this regard. If they deviate from the tradition, we will be compelled to take legal assistance,” Deb said.
ISKCON celebrates Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, on a particular day across the world following the scriptures, but it deviates from tradition in the case of Lord Jagannath, the titular king of Puri claimed.
According to the practice in Puri, the ‘Snan Yatra’ is conducted on the full moon in the month of ‘Jyeshtha’, usually in June.
Similarly, the Rath Yatra or chariot festival is observed on the second day of the bright fortnight of ‘Ashadha’ month, which falls in June or July.
PTI