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The grand spectacle which attracts nearly a million people to Puri may not be held this year.

First Time In 284 Yrs, Puri's Jagannath Rath Yatra Unlikely Due To Covid-19

2020-04-25T21:03:55+0530Millions of Jagannath devotees are keeping their fingers crossed as uncertainty looms large over the conduct of the annual Rath Yatra for the first time in 284 years due to the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide lockdown. “It is up to the Central and state governments to take a call on whether to hold only a token Rath Yatra, in the presence of just servitors (priests) and officials, or none at all,” Puri Gajapati King Dibyasingh Deb, who heads the management committee of the 12th-century shrine, said after a crucial meeting. The titular head and the First Devotee of the Lord, however, made it clear that the construction of the chariots cannot begin until May 3 due to the restrictions already in place. The ritual will be held inside the temple premises till the lockdown is in place as per the advice of Jagadguru Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Gobardhan Peeth, Puri. Hence, the rituals scheduled till then will have to be done inside the Meghanad Pacheri (the tall boundary wall around the temple),” the Puri King said after the meeting. Even the construction of the chariots, which was supposed to begin on Akshaya Tritiya day tomorrow and takes place in full public view right in front of the temple, draws a large crowd of curious devotees. I am very disappointed that I cannot partake of this unique and exhilarating experience this year ,” Bikash Ranjan Behera, a devotee from Kendrapara, told Outlook . Asit Mohanty, a researcher who has written extensively on the Jagannath cult and the myriad temple rituals, is not in favour of doing away with the Rath Yatra altogether. “The Rath Yatra has not been cancelled in the last 284 years despite the fact that the state has witnessed much bigger crises like the Naa’anka Durbhikhya (the Great Famine of 1766 which is believed to have killed millions of people) and the spread of cholera. But it will not quite be the same experience because it’s the million-strong crowd and their collective, frenzied and full-throated chants of “Jay Jagannath” are what give the grand event its epical flavour.

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