Bhubaneswar, May 20: The Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri, has urged the Ferozepur district administration in Punjab to stop the Jagannath Mandir at Ferozepur Cantonment from holding the Ratha Yatra on May 23.
In a letter addressed to Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate Deepshikha Sharma, SJTA Chief Administrator Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee expressed strong objection to the proposed celebration on that date.
The letter stated that, according to traditional customs and scriptures, the Ratha Yatra this year is scheduled to be observed on July 16, 2026. Conducting the festival on any other date, it warned, could hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Lord Jagannath devotees in India and abroad.
The SJTA further noted that the Shree Jagannatha Temple Managing Committee, headed by the Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, has consistently opposed such early observances of the festival in the past.
Dr Padhee requested the district administration to take immediate steps to ensure that the Jagannath Mandir in Ferozepur Cantonment does not organise the Ratha Yatra on May 23 and instead follows the traditional calendar observed by the Moola Pitha, Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
“Your timely intervention in this matter will help uphold the sanctity of this revered festival and preserve the religious sentiments of countless devotees,” the letter stated.
