If Required, Legal Action To Be Taken Against ISKCON For Holding Untimely Rath Yatra: Puri Gajapati

Bhubaneswar, Nov 4: Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb on Tuesday said legal action would be taken against the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) if the organisation doesn't refrain from holding the untimely Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath.

The Puri Gajapati said all efforts would be made to desist the ISKCon from holding Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath on unscheduled days.

"Holding Rath Yatra on other days than scheduled Tithi of Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri is sheerly a violation of Mahaprabhu's Niti. It is not acceptable," Gajapati told a Press conference today.

The Puri king said the ISKCON has not announced the cancellation of its November 9 Rath Yatra at Huston in the USA. It has also planned to hold Rath Yatra in another country on that day.

"After we complained, the ISKCON stopped the untimely Snana Yatra (Bathing Ceremony) of Mahaprabhu. But it has not said if it will stop the scheduled November 9 Rath Yatra," said Gajapati.

Gajapati, the Chairman of the Shreemandir Managing Committee, said the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration has always opposed the ISKCON's schedules of untimely Rath Yatra. The ISKCON stopped Rath Yatra in the country but is organizing the ritual in foreign countries, informed the Gajapati.

The Puri Gajapati said all Jagannath temples across the country and outside have been advised to follow the Shreemandir while holding the Lord's rituals. If ISKCON violates the Niti tradition, we will certainly approach the court of law for justice, he said.