When the gods are willing to play ball with the authorities grappling with the pandemic Covid-19, can the courts of justice be far behind? And that must be the reason why the Supreme Court of India has allowed the Odisha government and the administration committee of Puri Jagannath temple to go ahead with the annual chariot festival, beginning June 23.
The court, after being assured that the festival will be conducted as per the Covid 19 protocols, on Monday, revised the earlier one which banned the rituals saying “Lord Jagannath will not forgive us if we allow rath yatra this year”.
The court, however, imposed strict conditions under which the procession of the chariots will take place.
As per the order, there will be no rath yatra anywhere except in Puri, which will be under a curfew. Each of the 500 people who will be pulling the three chariots should have tested negative for Covid-19 and should observe social distancing norms before, during and after the ritual.
It warned the authorities that “the situation can become dangerous if the rules of caution are ignored”.
Gods have not been in the company of devotees ever since the nation had gone into a lockdown on March 25 and religious festivals across the country remained suspended. Now that we are in Unlock 1.0, the Puri festival can be a test case to see if relaxation in festivals, at least in part, can be allowed.
Religious congregations have earned notoriety for having accentuated the spread of the virus in South Korea and the United States.
Caution must be the mantra the organisers chant and practise while putting the magnanimity of the court to test in Puri.
There can be no laxity, lest the situation go of control bringing bad name to all concerned, including the lords presiding over the apex court as well as the temple town.
