Bhubaneswar: Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb has once again written to the President of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC), Gobardhan Das, urging the organization to reconsider its decision to conduct Rath Yatra on dates not aligned with traditional Jagannath temple practices.
In his latest letter, the Gajapati Maharaja emphasized that ISKCON temples across the country should observe Rath Yatra within the nine-day period beginning from Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya, as per scriptural and traditional guidelines followed by the Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri.
This comes after repeated appeals by the Gajapati, who is the Chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, expressing deep concern that ISKCON’s deviation from the sacred tradition of Mahaprabhu’s Rath Yatra, the spiritual lifeline of Odia culture, has hurt the sentiments of millions of Jagannath devotees.
According to Radhakrushna Panda, the Personal Secretary to the Gajapati Maharaja, a formal communication had earlier been sent on September 6 to ISKCON’s GBC President at Mayapur, West Bengal, conveying the temple committee’s final decision. The letter had instructed that all ISKCON temples, both in India and abroad, observe Snana Yatra and Rath Yatra on the scripturally prescribed tithis.
In response, the ISKCON GBC President, in his letter dated September 19, conveyed that while ISKCON temples agree to conduct Snana Yatra on Jyeshtha Purnima, they could not comply with observing Rath Yatra within the traditional nine-day period outside India.
Reacting to this, the Gajapati Maharaja has now reiterated his directive, urging ISKCON to honour the sacred scriptures and ancient temple traditions and align its Rath Yatra observances accordingly.
