Bhubaneswar2 hours ago
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The main event of Rath Yatra will be organized on July 16 in Puri city of Odisha.
Gajapati Maharaj Divyasingh Dev of Puri has written a letter to President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ISKCON organizing Rath Yatra and Snan Yatra at different times in foreign countries.
He has written a letter on July 8 demanding both of them to take appropriate steps to protect the ancient tradition of Puri.
Dibyasingh Deb is also the chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Management Committee (SJTMC). He says that ISKCON is organizing the yatra on dates which are not according to the scriptures. The sentiments of the devotees are being hurt by this.
ISKCON says that Lord Jagannath has devotees all over the world. In foreign countries, flexibility is kept in the date of Rath Yatra keeping in view the weather, local conditions and convenience of the devotees, so that more and more people can participate in the festival and there is global spread of Jagannath culture.
For this reason, Rath Yatra was taken out in London on 21 June, New York City on 14 June and Sydney on 5 July. But this year, Snan Purnima was on June 29 and the main Rath Yatra will take place on July 16.
Objection also expressed on proposed Rath Yatras in Madhya Pradesh
Gajapati Maharaj also objected to the plan of Ujjain-based ISKCON temple to organize Rath Yatra at 66 places in Madhya Pradesh between July 16 and 25. He said that according to religious texts, Rath Yatra is only a 9-day festival starting from Ashadh Shukla Dwitiya.
He said that even in Skanda Purana written by Maharishi Vedvyas, Lord Jagannath himself has given the fixed date of Snan Yatra and Rath Yatra. In such a situation, organizing events on arbitrary dates is contrary to ancient traditions and scriptures.
ISKCON’s argument – It is not possible to organize events everywhere on the same day in foreign countries.
Responding to the previous objections of the Puri temple, ISKCON had said that climatic conditions, government regulations and local cultural factors have a big impact in every country. Due to this, it is not always possible to organize Rath Yatra on the date mentioned in the scriptures.
ISKCON had told the Puri temple – “The weather, government and local culture in Russia are often not conducive to holding Rath Yatra on the dates mentioned in the scriptures.”
Bhaskar Knowledge…
The controversy regarding Rath Yatra is not new. In 2024 and 2025 also, Gajapati Maharaja of Puri had requested ISKCON to organize Rath Yatra as per the religious calendar of Puri in foreign countries also. This controversy came into the limelight in 2026 because in many countries the Rath Yatra was organized several weeks before the date of Puri, after which a formal objection was lodged.
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