Puri: Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb expressed anguish over ISKCON's untimely Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath scheduled for November 9 in Houston. 

Addressing a presser here today, Puri King hit out at ISKCON's decision to hold Ratha Jatra in November, which is violation of Jagannath culture. 

"Enough is enough. We will not leave it this time. We will approach the ISKCON for the cancellation of the festival. We will request the body to obey and respect the Jagannath culture," he told reporters. 

Speaking about ISKCON's Ratha Jatra celebration, he said that the ISKCON has been organising the car festival of Lord Jagannath as per its convinience since 1967. As per our request, the organisation halted untimely celebration of Ratha Jatra in India since 2021. However, it continued celebrating the untimely Ratha Jatra outside the country. 

"Our Odia people are very patient. If such thing were to take place in other religion, it could have received a huge backlash. We cant follow the path of violence. We will wait for response from ISKCON regarding the matter," Gajapati said. 

He described the untimely Ratha Jatra as a promotional festival, which is not as per the Hindu manuscript. 

"It is the 'prachar jatra'. The festival has not been approved by our manuscript. Lord Jagannath is the 'mula bigraha' (presiding deity) of Srimandir. You (ISKCON) can never modify the truth. You can describe the festival as 'sankirtan yatra' not 'ratha jatra'," the King said. 

Earlier, the Puri Gajapati had written to the ISKCON, urging it to abstain from holding untimely Ratha Jatra in Houston. 

As per the request, ISKCON cancelled its plan to hold Snana Jatra scheduled on November 3 in Houston. However, no response has been received so far about cancellation of the scheduled car festival. 

"By doing this, the ISKCON is breaking the tradition of Srimandir. The idol of Lord Jagannath and His Holy Siblings should not be taken out of the temple except Snana Jatra and Ratha Jatra. It has been mentioned in Skanda Purana and Lord Jagannath Himself has announced it. If ISKCON is organising Ratha Jatra according to its convinience, it will be deviation of the age-old tradition of Puri Jagannath Temple. This will hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath," Gajapati said. 

Urging people to wait for the ISKCON's respnose to his letter, he said, "We need to wait for March when the ISKCON's governing council meeting will be held. I hope, the organisation will understand the logic behind Ratha Jatra celebration and cancel the untimely festibal across the world as it believes in Hindu religion, manuscripts and rituals of Lord Krishna."