Puri Gajapati Maharaja will write to all concerned to stop rath yatra on unscheduled dates

Puri, Feb 5: Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb , who heads the Sri Jagannath temple management committee, will write to all concerned to stop holding of rath yatra on unscheduled dates.  This was decided at the meeting of the temple management committee held here today. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is holding rath yatra across the country on different dates other than the scheduled date  on which the car festival of Lord Jagannath is held at Puri, causing resentment among the devotees of the Lord. The News 7 TV channel of Prameya Group had made it an issue recently opposing the holding of rath yatra by ISKCON on different dates throughout the year, in deviation from the calendar of Sri Jagannath temple. The Daitapati sevayats and others had decided to voice their protests. The issue was discussed at the temple management committee meeting today and it was decided that Gajapati maharaja would write to all concerned requesting to stop the holding of rath yatra by ISKCON on the dates other than the one followed by Sri Jagannath temple. Apart from the rath yatra issue, the reforms to be undertaken in the Jagannath temple and Gundicha temple, as recommended by the Supreme Court, were discussed ahead of the hearing in the apex court. The preparatory meeting will be convened soon for the upcoming Nagarjuna Vesha festival. The auction process in the two temples will be streamlined and the reform and welfare measures will continue. The assistance of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be taken for the renovation and repair of the temple kitchen. It was decided that all the landed properties of Lord Jagannath would be recorded in the temple administration's name. A MoU would be signed with the State-run Odisha Mining Corporation for collection of royalty from the mines owned by the temple administration. Besides, all the deposits of the temple will be kept in nationalised banks. The Sri Jagannath Temple Management Fund will be deposited in State Bank of India (SBI) and the corpus fund and the original deposits will be kept in the nationalised banks offering higher rate of interest. Earlier, keeping the deposit of around Rs 600 crore funds of the Sri Jagannath temple in a private bank had sparked off protest at various quarters. Today's meeting presided over by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb was attended by the Chief Temple Administrator Krishan Kumar, senior officials of the temple administration, district administration and Archaeological Survey of India and members of the temple management committee.