Highlights
PURI: A sea of humanity turned up at Puri and cheered Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra during the deities’ divine journey on chariots from Jagannath temple to Gundicha Temple (birth place of the deities), flagging off the nine-day Rath Yatra on Thursday.
Rath Yatra is the biggest public celebration in Puri after Cyclone Fani pummeled the coastal town on May 3.
As the deities were being escorted from the shrine onto chariots in gung-ho procession, a wave of euphoria swept the temple town. Emotions ran high the moment devotees caught glimpse of the deities on chariots.
Dancers perform during Jagannath Rath Yatra
The high point of this year’s car festival was timely completion of the rituals by the servitors. Pahandi, a key ritual in which the servitors bring the idols from the sanctum sanctorum to chariots, was completed by 11.45 am. In the previous years, the Pahandi ritual was completed around 1 pm. Pulling of chariots that usually started at around 3.45 pm or 4 pm in the past is scheduled to start between 2 pm and 2.40pm. As per the tradition, the chariot of Lord Balabhadra would be tugged first followed by the chariots of Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath.
Temple’s chief administrator Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said that the rituals of the deities went on smoothly thanks to the cooperation of servitors. The police heaved a sigh of relief as no untoward incident was reported so far. “We successfully handled lakhs of crowd. Rath Yatra was peaceful so far. Though some devotees fainted due to humidity, they were discharged from first-aid centres after treatment,” director general of police R P Sharma told TOI.
As police remained on their toes, devotees brushed aside all odds and attempted to breach the police cordons to go near the chariots. From dawn, devotees started occupying their positions on Grand Road to witness the annual extravaganza. “I was not worried about rain or possible stampede. Nothing could stop me from participating in this event as I have been coming to Rath Yatra without fail for past four years,” said Jatindra Raul from Sonepur.
Governor Ganeshi Lal, Orissa high court's chief justice KS Jhaveri and chief minister Naveen Patnaik among other dignitaries visited Puri and watched the Rath Yatra.
Rath Yatra is the biggest public celebration in Puri after Cyclone Fani pummeled the coastal town on May 3.
As the deities were being escorted from the shrine onto chariots in gung-ho procession, a wave of euphoria swept the temple town. Emotions ran high the moment devotees caught glimpse of the deities on chariots.
The high point of this year’s car festival was timely completion of the rituals by the servitors. Pahandi, a key ritual in which the servitors bring the idols from the sanctum sanctorum to chariots, was completed by 11.45 am. In the previous years, the Pahandi ritual was completed around 1 pm. Pulling of chariots that usually started at around 3.45 pm or 4 pm in the past is scheduled to start between 2 pm and 2.40pm. As per the tradition, the chariot of Lord Balabhadra would be tugged first followed by the chariots of Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath.
Temple’s chief administrator Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said that the rituals of the deities went on smoothly thanks to the cooperation of servitors. The police heaved a sigh of relief as no untoward incident was reported so far. “We successfully handled lakhs of crowd. Rath Yatra was peaceful so far. Though some devotees fainted due to humidity, they were discharged from first-aid centres after treatment,” director general of police R P Sharma told TOI.
As police remained on their toes, devotees brushed aside all odds and attempted to breach the police cordons to go near the chariots. From dawn, devotees started occupying their positions on Grand Road to witness the annual extravaganza. “I was not worried about rain or possible stampede. Nothing could stop me from participating in this event as I have been coming to Rath Yatra without fail for past four years,” said Jatindra Raul from Sonepur.
Governor Ganeshi Lal, Orissa high court's chief justice KS Jhaveri and chief minister Naveen Patnaik among other dignitaries visited Puri and watched the Rath Yatra.
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