Bhubaneswar, July 3: Jagannath temple administration today agreed to allow devotees to climb on to the chariots of the holy trinity and touch the idols during the rath yatra festival in Puri starting July 10.

“The decision was taken at the temple management committee meeting headed by Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb,” said temple chief administrator Arvind Padhee. Padhee said to resolve the controversy henceforth, Puri Shankaracharya would take a final call on it after rath yatra was over.

Earlier, the temple administration was hell-bent on not allowing devotees to touch the idols, a move that was opposed by servitors. The servitors were of the view that once the Lord came out of the temple, the devotees irrespective of religion, caste and creed, could touch Him and subsequently, threatened non-cooperation during the nine-day car festival. As the stalemate continued, the state government asked the temple administration to resolve the issue and reach a definitive conclusion before rath yatra.

Jagannath temple officials had argued that the rush of the crowd on the chariots to touch the deities would create a chaotic situation.

Last year, a devotee couple had been roughed up by a group of servitors on the ground that they were non-Hindus. It had stirred a controversy across the state and put the temple administration in an awkward position.

Temple officials also cited how a stampede like situation had taken place in 2008 during the rath yatra that led to death of six pilgrims. In 2011, a scuffle had ensued between servitors and police over the issue of allowing devotees climb on the chariots.

However, today as the issue was resolved, chief servitor of Lord Jagannath, Jagannath Swain Mohapatra welcomed the decision.

“It is an age-old tradition for devotees to offer their prayers to the Lord and touch Him. We are happy that the issue has been resolved amicably. All of us have agreed that we will cooperate with the temple administration to ensure a smooth rath yatra,” he said.

Padhee said the servitors had assured the temple administration that only a few authorised members of the sevayat groups would be present on the chariot to facilitate darshan.