The Jagannath Temple Managing Committee has decided to allow the construction of the three chariots displayed during the world-famous Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri even as there is uncertainty if the Car Festival will be allowed to take place this year amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“It is not a religious function, but a construction activity, which is allowed in all Covid-19 zones. We will ensure adherence to all guidelines and health safety measures while building the chariots at ‘Rahta Khala’ (the open area on either side of the Grand Road in Puri),” said Puri king Gajapati Dibyasinghdev, who heads the managing committee of the 12th century temple.
The Rath Yatra, scheduled on June 23, is the most important festival in Odisha attended by over million devotees who throng Puri town for the 10-day long festival. The temple doors have been shut since March 20 due to the pandemic. Only day-to-day rituals are being done by the temple priests.
The temple managing committee, which met on Monday via videoconferencing, decided that if the lockdown is further extended and Rath Yatra cancelled, the logs of the chariots can be taken apart and used in the temple kitchen for preparation of the Mahaprasad.
“The committee will decide on whether or not to hold Rath Yatra once the restrictions are lifted on May 17. A decision on Snana Yatra of the lords (when the three deities are bathed) will also be taken in the next meeting,” Dibyasinghdev said.
If the car festival is not held this year, it would be the first time in the last 284 years when it could not be held. In the 425 years of the car festival, the event has been scrapped 32 times, mostly during invasion. It was scrapped for the first time in 1568 when Kala Pahad alias Kala Chand Roy, a general of Bengal king Suleiman Kirrani attacked the temple and pillaged the deities.
The last time it could not be held was between 1733 and 1735 when Mohammed Taqi Khan, deputy governor of Odisha, attacked the Jagannath temple, forcing the shifting of the idols to Ganjam district.