Expressing anguish and shock over the nonparticipation of Govardhan Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati in the Rath Yatra here on Sunday, Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb said the State Government should make sincere efforts to enable the seer to perform his traditional rituals on the chariots from next year.
“Both the State Government and the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) should make efforts to ensure the traditional role of the seer is kept intact. I hope they would facilitate the traditional rituals performed by the Shankaracharya on the chariots from next year,” the Gajapati King said.
For the first time in the Rath Yatra’s history, the Shankaracharya stayed away from the festival because the temple administration had asked him to visit the deities atop the chariots all alone, taking the plea of the judgement of the Odisha High Court, which had directed that all parties must adhere to the temple’s Record of Rights.
Protesting the decision of the SJTA, an aggrieved seer had earlier made it clear that he would not climb the chariots. Sources at the Govardhan Peeth had said the seer like the Gajapati is always accompanied by assistants so that they can perform their ritual assignments
properly.
The Government and the SJTA, they said, had deliberately insulted the top Hindu seer only to please a certain section of servitors.
The RSS and the VHP have reacted sharply against the ‘humiliation’ of the seer and the institution of Shankaracharya, and have threatened to take to agitational means unless the Government apologises to
the seer.