Bhubaneswar: A major controversy erupted Thursday when an untimely Rath Yatra was organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) on the occasion of Basant Panchami in Mumbai.
The idols of deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were taken out in a procession on a single chariot from Shivaji Park in Mumbai Thursday. The devotees pulled the chariot on prominent routes covering Shiv Sena Bhawan, Portuguese Church, Gokhale Road, Prabhadevi and the yatra culminated at Shivaji Park.
Iskcon’s Mangalprabhu Das said, “In Puri, Rath Yatra is held in July, but here we organise the yatra on the occasion of Basant Panchami. Today, thousands of devotees attended the festival and cleaned roads and painted rangolis.”
Researchers vehemently criticised the move by Iskcon in Mumbai and said that the perception of a section of people that Rath Yatra is a commercial event is deplorable.
“Earlier, the Puri Gajapati had requested religious outfits not to organize untimely Rath Yatra. However, the Iskcon authorities have ignored it. The state government should formulate a law to prevent untimely Rath Yatra,” Said Ramchandra Das Mohapatra, Srimandir Managing Committee member. It is pertinent to mention here that usually the official Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath is conducted in a grand manner in Puri in the month of July every year.