Minister backs Puri seer's view on banning climbing chariot

A senior minister in Odisha today backed Puri Shankaracharya's view of banning devotees climbing chariots of Lord Jagannath during the Rath Yatra though the state government is in a dilemma in doing the same.
"Every religion has its spiritual head, whose opinion on religious matters is binding on everyone belonging to that religion and Hinduism is no different," Cooperation and Excise Minister Damodar Rout said while talking about the ongoing controversy over devotees climbing the chariots.
While it is the duty of the state government to ensure smooth conduct of the affairs of the temple, including the Rath Yatra, opinions of Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and Gajapati King of Puri Divyasingha Deb are final in matters relating to rituals, Rout said.

Stating that it was his 'personal' opinion, Rout said some people has turned it a 'business' in the name of tradition and are opposing restrictions suggested by the Shankaracharya as they stand to lose out on their earnings.
Though Shankaracharya had suggested complete ban on allowing devotees to climb the chariots and touching the deities, the state government had said people would not climb the Raths on three days: Rath Yatra, Bahuda and Suna Besha.
The Daitapati priests, who usually remain in-charge of the deities during the car festival, however, opposed Shankaracharya's views on the plea that it was a tradition in Puri to allow devotees to climb chariots and touch the Lord.

As the dispute snowballed into a major controversy, the Speaker of Odisha Assembly yesterday convened a meeting which constituted a committee headed by Puri MLA Maheswar Mohanty to resolve the crisis.
The committee in its first meeting here today, decided to wait till tomorrow as Orissa High Court has already admitted a PIL in this matter. The court is scheduled to start hearing of the case from tomorrow.
Meanwhile, members of Jagannath Sanskruti Surakhya Mancha (JSSM), a city-based cultural outfit, today opposed formation of the committee to look into the issue.