Annual Jagannath Rath Yatra will not be held this year, rules apex court

NEWDELHI: The annual Rath Yatra scheduled to be held on June 23 at the Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri district will not take place this year in view of the Covid -19 pandemic, the Supreme Court ordered on Thursday.

The order was passed after a plea by an NGO, Odisha Vikas Parishad, pointed out the public health risk involved if more than one million devotees congregate for the event at a time when Covid-19 cases are rising.

“Having regard to the danger presented by such a large gathering of people for the Rath Yatra, we consider it appropriate in the interests of public health and safety of citizens who are devotees to restrain the respondents (state and district authorities and managing committee of Jagannath temple) from holding the Rath Yatra this year”, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde ordered.

The court also directed that no such Rath Yatra should be allowed in any other part of Odisha. “We direct that there shall be no Rath Yatra anywhere in the temple town (Puri) of Odisha or in any other part of the state this year. We further direct that there shall be no activities secular or religious associated with the Rath Yatra during this period”, the order read.

The Rath Yatra lasts for 10 to 12 days and involves a procession of chariots containing the deities Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balabhadra, and sister Devi Subhadra.

The central government had also left it to the discretion of the Odisha government to decide whether or not to hold the Rath Yatra based on the conditions at the relevant point of time.