Overview
- Temple officials confirmed the main Rath Yatra procession will be held on July 16 and said final rituals such as Nabajaubana Darshan have been scheduled and preparations are almost complete.
- Odisha and Puri administrations have mobilised extensive crowd‑management plans that include about 12,000 police personnel, 19 senior IPS officers, multiple evacuation corridors, nearly 500 CCTVs, eight temporary hospitals and more than 1,700 bio‑toilets.
- The Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee and the Gajapati Maharaja have objected to ISKCON holding overseas Rath Yatras on dates that differ from Puri’s lunar calendar and plan to ask the Union government to intervene after ISKCON declined to change its schedule.
- ISKCON has defended its independent dates on scriptural and practical grounds, and public complaints have arisen after reports that Indian High Commission officials participated in an off‑schedule Rath Yatra in Kenya, prompting a call to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
- State and city organisers are running parallel processions and support programs, including West Bengal grants and seva kendras, and the dispute over dating could prompt formal guidance from Delhi to diplomats and foreign missions.