The Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Surat has been cancelled by the Iskon temple authorities at Jehangirpura authorities on Friday. After the state government laid guidelines for taking out Jagannath Rath Yatra, the Iskon temple authorities had submitted the names of 200 devotees to Surat police who had taken both the vaccination doses and will remain with the rath. However the police asked the temple authorities reduce the number of devotees to 60 and cut short the route of the procession, following which the Rath Yatra has been cancelled. The manager of Iskon temple Surat Saroj Kumar Das said, “We agreed on all the conditions laid by the government including cut short route and we agreed on three-kilometre route from Palanpur patia to the Jehangirpura. Police had again cut short the route to less than one kilometer which is from Mora Bhagal to Jehangirpura, to which we objected. Even police had reduced the number of devotees to 60 devotees to pull rath. The rath is big and 60 people cannot pull it. With all these restrictions, we have decided to cancel the procession outside the temple premises.” Surat police commissioner Ajaykumar Tomar confirmed that that the temple authorities have decided to take out the yatra on the temple premises.”
