No grand festivities for Rath Yatra in Puri this year owing to COVID-19, rules Supreme Court

Odisha won’t host the annual Rath Yatra in Puri this year for the first time in decades. The decision to stay all the activities related to the famous Rath Yatra was taken by the Supreme Court on June 18. The court said that the annual festival is being cancelled in the interest of the health and safety of its citizens.

News has it that a petition was filed by an NGO named Odisha Vikas Parishad, which had mentioned the strong possibility of public health getting affected if the Rath Yatra is permitted to be organised.
As a tradition, the yatra required a heavy chariot to be pulled with the help of attached ropes to ferry Lord Jagannath and his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra after they leave the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. A lot of people engage themselves in pulling the chariot, which would have violated physical distancing norms.
Reportedly, the Supreme Court announced that such huge gatherings can’t be allowed during the pandemic, and also added that Lord Jagannath won’t forgive us if we allow the Rath Yatra this year.
The Puri Rath Yatra was due to start from June 23, 2020. Lakhs of people visit Puri to witness and take part in the age-old festival.
Now that the court has ruled out the celebration of this festival on a grand scale, the Odisha Government shall rope in elephants or heavy duty equipment to pull the chariots of the deities.