After the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the annual Rath Yatra, the state government had been facing tremendous pressure from different quarters to intervene in the matter.

The Odisha government on Sunday said it will take "favourable action" as legally permissible on a request by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb that Lord Jagannath's Rath Yatra, which was stayed by the Supreme Court this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, be allowed sans congregation of devotees.

After the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the annual Rath Yatra, the state government had been facing tremendous pressure from different quarters to intervene in the matter.

"The State Government will take favourable action as legally permissible on the request of the Gajapati Maharaj when the writ petition W.P.(C) No. 571 of 2020 is taken up for hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court," Odisha law department said in a statement.

The government's response came a day after Gajapati Maharaja Deb requested it to move a fresh application before the Supreme Court seeking modification of its June 18 order.

The titular king of Puri had also requested the state government to request the court to allow the yatra sans any devotees and only in Puri as the festival is "sanctioned and mandated" according to the religious scriptures and legal provisions.

More than a dozen petitions have been moved before the Supreme Court seeking recall of its order staying the historic Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, which was scheduled for June 23.