Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra under shadow of Covid
17 Jun 2020 11:14:29
Staff Reporter ;
Raipur,
June 16
The chariots would not be pulled this year
The most revered and much-awaited world famous ‘Jagannath Rath Yatra’ is scheduled to begin from June 30. However, Rath Yatra, also referred to as Ratha Jatra or Chariot Festival, would remain simple this year unlike previous years as corona shadow looms large over it. Like ‘Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra’, chariot festivals across Chhattisgarh would see no rush among the devotees to pull the chariots of Lord Jagannath and siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra. Only priests would perform rituals of Rath Yatra on the chariots at temples across State. Shri Jagannath Sewa Samiti President Purandar Mishra said that Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra would be taken to their respective chariots – Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Devadalana, situated on the temple premises at Gayatri Nagar for ‘darshan’. However, chariots would not be pulled by the devotees. Similarly, there would be no ‘prasad’ distribution programme. Barricading would be done around the chariots to stop devotees, coming for ‘darshan’ of their revered God, from touching the chariots, Mishra said. “We have invited Governor Anusuiya Uikey, but she may not be able to attend the festival owing to the covid-19 pandemic protocol.
We are also inviting Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, but again we are not sure if he would be able to mark his presence,” said Mishra. Mishra said that such a situation has emerged after a gap of 100 years when chariots would not be pulled. According to him, chariots were not pulled in 1920 due to some pandemic like coronavirus. Former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh is also not attending the chariot festival this year, Mishra said. He said that the celebration of Rath Yatra could not possible for 35 occasions in the 500 years’ history due to various reasons. It was learnt that historic Sadar Bazaar Rath Yatra would be kept as simple as possible. Similarly, Shri Jagannath Kalyan Samiti, Trimurti Nagar, Raipur would keep it simple.
The organisers said that they would follow all the guidelines issued by the administration in the wake of covid-19. History of ‘Jagannath Rath Yatra’ in Bastar is 612 years old and it is unlikely that Lord Jagannath and his siblings would give ‘darshan’ to devotees this year. Lord Jagannath, who is on isolation for 15 days, would come out of the isolation period with ‘Netra Utsav’ a day before the festival on June 22. Currently Lord Jagannath is a bit unwell and undergoing 15-day treatment.
According to folklore, on ‘Jyeshtha Purnima’, which fell on June 5, Lord Jagannath took a bath which made him fall ill and thus unfit to give ‘darshan’ to his devotees. Throwing light on treatment of the Lord, Shri Jagganath Kalyan Samiti President Prafulla Kumar Das and Chief Advisor Narahari Mishra said that herbal remedies are administered to the Lord during the treatment. The Lord is also served hot food so that he recovers soon, they said. After recovering from illness, God would give a fresh opportunity of ‘darshan’ to all devotees, they added.