Puri: ISKCON is laying up more trouble for itself for celebrating unseasonal Rath Yatra.
Puri Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb will write a letter to ISKCON, temple authorities said after a meeting of Shree Jagannath temple managing committee held here Wednesday.
Since last Thursday when ISKCON celebrated Rath Yatra in Mumbai, devotees, servitors, researchers and various organisations have been criticising its authorities.
Shree Jagannath temple managing committee Wednesday convened a meeting. After the meeting, the temple’s chief administrator Krishan Kumar informed that earlier a meeting on unseasonal celebration of Rath Yatra had been convened. Senior officials of ISKCON had attended that meeting. They had promised to raise the issue at ISKCON managing council meeting to be held at Mayapur in April.
Prior to the Mumbai celebration, ISKCON had also decided to celebrate Rath Yatra in Ludhiana in November last year but the plans were later dropped.
“Rath Yatra should never be observed or celebrated by ignoring the tradition followed in the Shree Jagannath temple. All should be careful to preserve the Hindu religion, Jagannath culture and traditions,” Kishan Kumar further stated.
“In the meeting it was decided that Puri Gajapati Maharak Dibyasingha Deb will write a letter to ISKCON. In the letter, the organisation will be asked not to hold such unseasonal celebration of Rath Yatra in the future. The temple administration will also request the state government to ask ISKCON to refrain from observing such festivals,” he informed, adding, “And I hope ISKCON will take a positive decision in its April meeting.”
Notably, Shree Jagannath temple managing committee had convened a meeting September 6 last year over various organisations celebrating festivals at their temples not following the Puri Jagannath temple traditions. There it was decided that the state government would take steps to make people all over the globe aware about the traditions followed in the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri.
Even after that there are some organizations that are least concerned about the traditions of Shree Jagannath temple. While ISKCON had decided to celebrate car festival in Punjab’s Ludhiana in November last year, Shreemad Naradiya Bhagabata Nikunj Trust had already distributed invitation cards for car festival which was scheduled to be held December 29 last year. However, these two events were cancelled only when the moves were stiffly opposed and FIRs were registered at police stations.
PNN