AHMEDABAD: The juggernaut rolled on the city roads for the 141st time on Saturday as lakhs of devotees had a glimpse of the Lord of the World (Jagannath) with
Balram and Subhadra. This year, the 2km long procession – covering 15km distance – was tightly on schedule as the three chariots rolled out at 7.10am and were back to the temple at 8.30pm.
Early on Saturday morning, thousands of devotees thronged the Jagannathji temple in Jamalpur for Mangala aarti where khichdi was offered to the Lords as per the tradition. BJP national president Amit Shah was present for the ceremony. From 5.23am onwards, the deities of the temple were taken to the chariots for installation.
Journey of the chariots started from the temple premises after a garba performance with CM Vijay Rupani and deputy CM Nitin Patel performing Pahind ritual – ceremonial cleaning of the path of the chariots with golden broom – for second year in a row. Patel also pulled the chariot outside the temple premises along with temple
mahant Dilipdasji.
Temple trustee Mahendra Jha said that this year it was a very auspicious day with Pushya nakshatra and Gaja Kesari yoga which would bring joy and prosperity to the state.
This year’s theme of Ahmedabad’s status as World Heritage City (WHC) was reflected in one tableau where replicas of monuments including Sabarmati Ashram, Sidi Saiyad Mosque’s stone window and traditional pol house were displayed. Other tableaux carried themes of Save the Girl Child, honouring the Indian soldiers and Save Water. Issues such as petrol price also got mention in the body art of participants.
The procession was greeted with sprinklers at Saraspur which replaced the ‘bucket bath’ of the chariots. It is believed that if the chariots get wet on the day, it would result in good rain for the city and state. The rains indeed blessed the procession on multiple occasions on Saturday. Over 1.5 lakh participants and devotees had the meals at ‘Lord’s maternal home’ (mosal) – as Saraspur is known due to presence of Ranchhodraiji Temple.
At Dariapur, the mahant was felicitated by local leaders as mark of communal harmony as a large number of local residents turned up to witness the procession in Dariapur and Shahpur. In the evening when azaan call was sounded, the procession got quiet as a mark of respect. The spectators were thinned out in the last leg as a major stretch was narrowed down due to MEGA work.
The chariots were back in the temple premises by 8.30pm. City police officials said that no major untoward incident was reported during the day.
When son’s death could not deter from duty
For Saraspur, the procession on Ashadhi Bij is a big affair with various localities hosting over 1.5 lakh participants for meals. Thus, when Bharat Prajapati, 43, a local resident, passed away due to cancer early on Saturday morning, it was a tough call for the family, including Sumitra, his mother, as she was in-charge of one of the kitchens. “It was decided that the funeral would be carried out only after the Rath Yatra passes from the area. The funeral would have changed the mood and would have blocked the time of a number of local youths who were engaged with the preparations. It would also have been an atmosphere of mourning. Prajapati’s last rites were performed after 4pm,” said Sharmistha Prajapati, a family member.
Eyes in the sky and MoS on the route
A force of over 10,000 police officers and personnel who were brought in from across the state for the mega procession. The entire procession was monitored by CCTV network as drones and aerostat helium balloon kept aerial surveillance. Pradipsinh Jadeja, MoS (home), walked with the procession from Prem Darwaja to Tambu Chowky and monitored the progress at the control room. “This year for the first time, the AMC’s control room for CCTV monitoring was connected with the police’s surveillance network,” said a senior city police official.
A police driver dies, several revellers get emergency care
As the police machinery was engaged in maintaining the procession, the demise of Gulfam Shaikh, driver of ACP C Division S K Trivedi saddened the local police personnel. Shaikh complained of severe chest pain when he was passing from Shahpur area after which he was taken to UN Mehta Hospital. Shaikh was declared dead two hours later due to cardiac arrest. It was also a busy day for the EMRI 108 paramedics who handled 17 emergencies. While four of the participants got fainted, three complained of breathing difficulties.
Akhada member injured near Panchkuwa
An akhada member suffered injuries while performing a stunt in Panchkuwa area. The policemen soon cordoned him and paramedics were called in. However, as the injury was not serious, the youth was treated on the spot. He later joined the group from Saraspur, said akhada members.
When the procession halted after skirmish
The policemen had a run-in with the chariot-pullers near Dhal ni Pol over an issue of timing and formation. The issue soon got escalated as the chariots were halted for about four minutes before the senior officials rushed to the spot and resolved the issue. Similarly, a member of a bhajan group was stopped over an issue of identity at Shahpur Adda by a team of policemen. After a few minutes, the man could join his group.
Poster war outside the temple
As the posters of ‘Hindu Vahini,’ an outfit floated by the Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath became talking point in last year’s Rath Yatra, this year it were the posters of International Hindu Parishad, an outfit by former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Dr Pravin Togadia. While VHP posters could be seen right opposite the temple, the IHP posters were placed on the road leading to the temple. What would be a better day to catch the eyeballs, mentioned experts.
Only one tableau for the ‘theme’
While the AMC and organizers promoted the city’s World Heritage City tag as theme for 141st Rath Yatra, the only saving grace was a tableau which depicted a few of the landmarks of the city.
‘Whistle squad’ dons saffron
For the past few years, the city police have adopted a colour coding system so as to quickly identify the units from the CCTV footage or aerial surveillance. This year, the city crime branch, that formed the majority part of ‘Whistle Squad’ that keeps the chariot pullers in a tight formation and ensures minimal gap between the chariots, raised a few eyebrows as it donned saffron colour.
