Can’t allow devotees to touch Puri deities, HC tells Odisha govt

Written by Debabrata Mohanty | Bhubaneshwar | June 21, 2014

The Orissa High Court Friday ruled that the state government must obey Puri seer Shankarachara Swami Nischalanand Saraswati’s viewpoint that no devotee should be allowed to touch the deities — Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra — when they are taken out during the Rath Yatra on June 29.

Disposing of a PIL seeking the court’s intervention into the ongoing debate over whether the Shankaracharya’s views that no devotee should be allowed to mount the chariot, a two-judge bench of Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice A K Rath ordered the state government to strictly obey the view of Puri seer on the issue. Petitioner Bhabani Mishra had pleaded that as per the Record of Rights (RoR) of Shree Jagannath Temple (Administration) Act, 1952, the Shankaracharya is the final arbiter in case of any dispute relating to rituals of the Lords.

The court directed the state to ensure that its orders are carried out.

In November last year, the Shankaracharya had said no unauthorised person, including any devotee, Hindu or non-Hindu, has a right to climb the chariots and touch the deities. His statement came after the temple management committee asked him to resolve the issue.

But the Daitapati Nijog, a powerful body of servitors at the 12th century temple, has been opposing the Puri seer’s ban on devotees climbing the chariot and touching the deities.

Daitapati Nijog’s president Ramchandra Das Mohapatra said the servitors may challenge the HC order before the SC. He, however, said a final decision would be taken at the general body meeting of the Nijog.

The king of Puri, Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb meanwhile threw his weight behind the Puri seer saying the state government has no right to interfere in the religious affairs of the Shree Jagannath Temple and the rituals associated with it.