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By Satish Samanta
First time ever in history ‘Rath Yatra’ of Puri is going to be organised in an audio-visual format, that is in absence of devotees!
The reason being the rising cases of Corona in the state has shaken the confidence of all, on the other side, it seems a political urgency is always preferred to wellbeing of people.
A strange cocktail of fear and faith that is being buzzed and it is one of the rare occasions when the belief about ‘Bhakta ra Bhagwan’ (God of the devotees) is being trashed.
Purists have raised the question as what was the compelling reason to hold a festival of such magnitude making it just a televised product only.
The grand Car festival attracts above a half a million devotees every year. They throng from all across the World to catch a glimpse of Lord Jagannath , Devi Subhadra and lord Balabhadra and emotionally charged to participate in pulling the chariots.
A Man-made Departure From Faith After 284 Years
Devotees keep there fingers crossed to participate in the festival. But this time devotees will remain deprived in the backdrop of pandemic outbreak, for the first time in 284 years.
Reports suggest that the Temple Managing Committee recommended to the state govt to conduct the annual Rath yatra of Lord Jagannath at Puri. The government has yet to be committal on it and the seer of Puri, Swami Nischalanand Saraswati, plays it safe over holding of the Car Festival.
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by chief servitors of deities Gajapati Maharaj Dibya Singh Deb. This year festival is planned to avoid congregation of crowd .
Only a tokenism will be followed in presence of Servitors, Officials and thousands of security personnel to commence and conclude the festival successfully .
Presently Puri is declared as a Red zone and will be restricted till June 30. The state Government decided to invoke 144 around Jagannath Temple to avoid gathering of devotees on eve of ‘Debasnan purnima’ (bathing ceremony) for three days. More over Saturday and Sunday have been declared as a curfew in any movement.
Puri has turned into a vulnerable place with corona effect . From zero to now Puri has been climbing steadily on the Covid positive graph leaving trails of doubts if it is safe at all to go ahead with such huge congregation those literally violate the guidelines with reckless ease.
The Left Hand Does Not Know What The Right Does!
Arguments are being made that, just a Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) can ensure safety. But the moot question is whether is it appropriate time to hold the festival during a kind of national emergency where the entire world is at war against a pandemic .
It all appears to be more of an exercise at political appeasement. The government is caught in a mire of confusion.
What a herculean task for cops who have been struggling through out the lockdown phase and now further bracing up for another odds.
Is their life not precious enough ? To pull the chariot the cops will be engaged in huge numbers, say about 4 to 5 thousand, pulling the chariots in this climate of fear of infection, when social distancing may be just impossible.
It seems government is giving in to the pressure of the priest community in connivance with the king of Puri who play the role of negotiator.
144 To Protect Tradition!
What`s the rationale behind an exercise when faith gets imprisoned in the confines of section 144.
Puri to be under curfew for the ` snan yatra` for over 36 hours and what will be the situation during Rath Yatra? The holy city shall be like an enemy fortress where faith remain buried!
It is a situation where the religious and political guardians appear running with a hare and hunting with a hound. That means they want traditions to remain intact and at the same time , keep corona away by imposing restrictions on the common men through the guidelines.
(Satish Samanta is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar and the views in this article are his personal)
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