Temple land grab hits rev, may mar Rath Yatra

With a little over a month left for the Rath Yatra at Lord Baladevjew Temple (Tulasi Kshetra) at Ichhapur in this town, the shrine authorities and devotees apprehend that non-availability of funds due to encroachment on temple land might hamper the conduct of the annual festival, a report said.

- POST NEWS NETWORK

Since the temple lands remain under encroachment, the fund required for the conduct of rituals and festivals gets blocked, the report added.

Ahead of the June 27 Rath Yatra, ceremonial selection of timber for Lord Baladevjew’s chariot, known as ‘Brahma Taladhwaja’, was performed on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. However, with the cost of organising rituals, including the Rath Yatra goes up by ₹50 lakh annually, the temple is facing a serious fund crunch in organising the annual sojourn of the deities and various other festivals held round the year. Much of this cost is currently met through donations and auctions of temple shops and offerings, but these sources are proving inadequate.