No VIP darshan in Puri Jagannath Temple on Rath Yatra this year

BHUBANESWAR: In a first-of-its-kind restriction, the Odisha govt has decided to do away with the VIP darshan system inside the Jagannath Temple, Puri, on the occasion of Rath Yatra on July 7. According to the govt, devotees, irrespective of their social status, will have to wait outside the temple to catch a glimpse of the sibling deities on their chariots.

In the previous years, the govt used to extend VIP facilities to elite devotees, allowing them to stand at a particular location inside the shrine to have a darshan of the deities during a ceremonial procession, called ‘Pahandi’, where the idols were taken from the sanctum sanctorum on to their chariots parked outside the temple.

"The presence and movement of VIPs inside the temple during the ‘Pahandi’ procession would delay the Rath Yatra rituals. We had to take the drastic step to prevent the entry of VIPs into the shrine to ensure timely and disciplined conduct of rituals. Devotees, including VIPs can get the darshan of the deities on chariots in front of the temple,” said law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Monday.

The temple administration said such a restriction was imperative to ensure smooth conduct of Rath Yatra rituals in view of a challenging situation this time. The rituals of Nabajouban Darshan and Netra Utsav will be performed on the same day when the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will be pulled. Nabajouban Darshan and Netra Utsav are usually observed on two separate days preceding the Rath Yatra. Such a situation had last arisen in 1971.

According to Harichandan, chief minister Mohan Majhi is scheduled to visit Puri on Tuesday to review the final preparations for Rath Yatra. On Monday, Puri king and chairman of the temple managing committee, Dibyasingha Deb called on the chief minister and discussed Rath Yatra preparations.

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