Sankaracharya boycotting chariots hurts Puri king

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Puri: Expressing sadness over the Puri Sankaracharya's refusal to have darshan of deities on chariots, Gajapati Maharaj Divya Singh Dev said the decision of temple administration of banning the disciples of the seer to accompany him to the chariots is wrong.

Even as the Sankaracharya had decided to take two of his supporters to chariots this year, the administration barred accessibility of his associates which had been a long-age practice. The king was astonished that the administration took such decision even without consulting the seer or him in this regard.

Reacting to the letter, Puri Sankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati flayed the government and announced to boycott the festival this year.

As per the tradition, Sankaracharya is the first to have darshan of the deities on the chariots every year on the Sri Gundicha day. However, Gajapati Maharaj assured to take up the matter with State government to uphold the age old tradition.