Puri Gajapati and chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Management Committee, Dibyasingha Deb, has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to dissuade Iskcon from holding off-calendar Rath Yatra celebrations.

The issue was discussed at a meeting in Puri on Saturday. Deb expressed concern over plans for around 80 “off-calendar” Rath Yatra and related rituals by Iskcon worldwide before December.

At the meeting, Deb said he had taken up the matter with Modi and that the temple administration would also approach the Union ministers of culture and external affairs.

Deb had earlier urged Iskcon to hold Shree Jagannath Ratha Yatra globally only during the nine-day auspicious period beginning on Asadha Shukla-paksha Dvitiya Tithi, in line with scriptural prescriptions and long-standing temple tradition.

The administration has also issued detailed documents citing scriptural grounds for fixed observances, such as Jyestha Poornima for Snana Yatra.

He said that, as an international organisation founded to propagate Sanatana Vaidika Dharma, Iskcon should adhere to its scriptural tenets while conducting festivals, including Rath Yatra, worldwide.

However, Iskcon has declined to restrict the celebrations to a specific tithi, defending its flexible approach for global observances, citing its interpretations and the need to accommodate devotees across regions.

The new Jagannath Temple calendar will come into effect from the upcoming Pana Sankranti on Tuesday. The temple administration expects all Jagannath temples across the country to align their rituals and festivals with those observed at the 12th-century shrine in Puri.