Festive Gatherings Can Be 'Dangerous': IMA President Warns Govt Amid 3rd Covid Wave Fears

The IMA President Dr JA requested the Centre to reconsider their decisions regarding any kind of mass gatherings "as it can be dangerous."

Rath Yatra (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association chief has suggested the government of India not to allow any kind of festival celebrations in wake of probable third wave of Coronavirus. The IMA President Dr JA Jayalal requested the Centre to reconsider their decisions regarding any kind of mass gatherings "as it can be dangerous."

"Holding any festival is not advisable as it can be dangerous. IMA requests the government to reconsider their decision regarding any kind of mass gatherings," IMA president, Dr JA Jayalal told news agency ANI. 

His advice to the Centre comes on a day Puri in Odisha and Ahmedabad in Gujarat took out the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath. In view of Covid pandemic, devotees have been barred to attend the event while servitors who have received vaccine shots and test negative for Covid-19 have been allowed to attend the rituals. 

In Jharkhand, the state govt asked the citizens to worship Lord Jagannath at their homes as Rath Yatra will not be taken out this year due to the Covid-19 crisis. 

In Kolkata, the organising committees of two famous Rath Yatras called off the festivities and chose to keep it a low-key event within the temple grounds. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) Kolkata has decided to forego special Rath Yatra arrangements.

While the deities will be brought on the symbolic yatra around the temple compound and all rites will be done, they plan to transport the idols in a car rather than a chariot to a site near Gurusaday Road, create a small pandal there, and place the deities there for the devotees.

According to mythology, the deities, Jagannath and siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra Devi travel to their aunt's house (Masir Bari) during Rath Yatra, rest there for a week, and then return to the main temple on the day of Ultarath.