According to tradition, the annual Rath Yatra is held on the second day of the Odia month of Ashadha Shukla Tithi (bright fortnight). (File Photo)The row over ISKCON holding Rath Yatras outside India intensified on Monday, with the chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, writing to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging them to intervene. He described the plans as “untimely”.Also Read | Railways to run 300 special trains for Puri Rath Yatra, 100 for Onam in Kerala: Ashwini VaishnawIn separate letters to the President and the Prime Minister in his second such appeal in the past 10 months, Deb alleged that ISKCON was organising Snana Yatra (the ceremonial bathing ritual) and Rath Yatra in several countries on dates that did not conform to Hindu scriptures and the centuries-old traditions associated with Lord Jagannath.“In spite of strong protests from the Hindu community both within India and abroad, ISKCON continues to organise untimely Snana Yatra and Ratha Yatra in various cities abroad on random dates throughout the year, thereby hurting the religious sentiments of countless devotees around the world,” wrote Deb, who is also the head of the house of the Bhoi dynasty, the erstwhile royal family of Puri.He said ISKCON had organised several such events in recent months and had scheduled more in the coming months.According to tradition, the annual Rath Yatra is held on the second day of the Odia month of Ashadha Shukla Tithi (bright fortnight), when Lord Jagannath, along with his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, travels from the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri to the Gundicha Temple.Deb said the Shankaracharyas and Vaishnavacharyas had consistently maintained that these festivals should be celebrated only on the tithis prescribed in the scriptures.He said repeated efforts by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) over the past two decades, including several rounds of discussions with ISKCON, had failed to resolve the issue.Story continues below this adAppealing to the President and the Prime Minister, Deb urged them to initiate appropriate steps to stop the conduct of Snana Yatra and Rath Yatra outside the prescribed dates.The latest appeal comes days after Deb, on July 4, wrote to the chairperson of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission at Mayapur in West Bengal, requesting the organisation to celebrate the festivals “in conformity with scriptures and tradition”.The Odisha government has also weighed in on the issue. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi recently criticised the conduct of “untimely” Rath Yatras and said the state government would take steps to address the matter.Last year, the SJTA had said it could consider legal action as a “last resort” if Rath Yatra and Snana Yatra continued to be held in violation of what it described as established scriptures and traditions.ISKCON could not be reached for comment.Sujit Bisoyi is a Special Correspondent with the Indian Express and covers Odisha. His interests are in politics, policy and people’s stories. He tweets at @bisoyisujit87 ... Read More