ISKCON to organize 150+ Rath Yatras across India, to feed 2.5 lakh pilgrims daily in Puri

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON India) will be organizing over 150 Rath Yatras of Lord Jagannath across the India in 100 cities and towns from Kerala to Punjab and Tripura to

Gujarat between 27th June (Ashadha Shukla Dvitiya) to 5th July (Ashadha Shukla Trayodashi).

As part of ISKCON’s annual services to Lord Jagannath’s devotees during Rath Yatra, ISKCON monks and volunteers, with the support of Mr. Gautam Adani and Adani group, will be serving sumptuous prasadam along with fruit juice daily to over 2.5 lakh pilgrims in Puri, Odisha, from day of Rath Yatra till the next 11 days. Mr. Gautam Adani is also expected to personally take part in the Annadan seva at Puri in the coming days.

For over 50 years, ISKCON has spread the teachings and bhakti of Lord Jagannath all over the world through its 900+ temples in more than 80 countries. Today, hundreds of ISKCON temples have deities of Lord Jagannath wherein festivals like Snana-yatra and Rath Yatra are celebrated and countless devotees with deep devotion and cultural dignity, preserve the spiritual essence of these sacred events to practice Jagannath bhakti around the world.

Though the Vedic scriptures allow observing the Rath Yatra festival at different times of the year, considering the request of Gajapati Divyasingh Dev (the King of Puri), in 2021, ISKCON India decided to align the festivities in the 11-day period, even though it had a significant impact on the outreach efforts of introducing people to Lord Jagannath in places like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu due to climatic conditions.

ISKCON’s scholars are currently in dialogue with the scholars appointed by the King of Puri and Sri Jagannath Temple Administration. ISKCON’s scholars have presented scriptural injunctions and evidence from the Vedas, Puranas and Itihasas to prove the religious authenticity of its Rath Yatra celebrations. The response from the Puri scholars is pending for the past several months.

“Today, even in India it is difficult to obtain permission to celebrate the Rath Yatra in many cities. It is stricter and more difficult to obtain permits in other countries, where the permission for public events is accorded only on certain days of the year. Moreover, the month of June-July are winter season in the Southern hemisphere and some places even witness’s snowfall. Besides that, most of the community members in places outside of India are either students or working people who find it very difficult to participate on working days” said Yudhistir Govinda Das, National Director of Communications for ISKCON India.

“We need to understand the original mood and purpose of celebrating the Rath Yatra festival which is for everyone, regardless of their race, gender, religion or nationality, an opportunity to receive the darshan and thereby the mercy of Lord Jagannath while seated on his chariot. Our intention has been to spread the bhakti and glories of Lord Jagannath, and we hope the King of Puri appreciates this noble effort and doesn’t deprive lakhs of people from Lord Jagannath’s mercy. We assure the King of Puri and Jagannath temple administration of our respect for the devotional essence, scriptural respect, and cultural sanctity of Lord Jagannatha’s festivals” he continued.

Since organizing the first ever Jagannath Rath Yatra in the western world at San Francisco in 1967, today ISKCON has made this festival a well-known event in cities like New York, Moscow, London, Sydney, Durban among others. Apart from introducing the teachings of Lord Jagannath to crores of people of various nationalities and ethnicities, ISKCON’s efforts have also significantly contributed to religious tourism of Odisha by inspiring thousands of devotees to visit every year Jagannath Puri and the related places of pastimes in the state.