Piety peaks as Lord Jagannath blesses citizens in Rath Yatra

Surat: Thousands of devotees swarmed the five different Rathyatra locations in different parts of the city on Thursday from afternoon, which moved around the city till late in the evening.
The biggest of the five was the Yatra taken out by Iskcon temple which started from Surat railway station at 3pm and reached the temple at Jahangirpura by 9.30pm. With the rain god participating with great gusto, the mood for the yatra was truly made up with devotees witnessing 12 different shades of Krishna Leela depicted on 12 tableaux as part of the procession. Twelve kirtan mandalis arranged by organizers also performed throughout the route, while Lord Balaram and Subhadra too blessed devotees from their chariots.
Nearly 7 tonne prasad including shira, dry fruits, fruits, moong and boondi were distributed to devotees that stood by the route. Chandra Maharaj from Vrindavan graced the auspicious ocassion.
One of the organizers said that this year devotees from Mayapur in West Bengal, Ankleshwar, Bharuch and Valsad had also come to participate in the Rathyatra. City Police commissioner Satish Sharma performed aarti and puja to flag off the yatra. Textile traders from Raong road markets also came out in large numbers to welcome the Lord and the yatra.
Yatra moved from Ring Road to Udhana Darwaja and to Athwa gate before crossing the river on Sardar bridge to enter Adajan and Rander and finally reach its destination at Iskcon temple in Jahangirpura, covering a distance of around 15 km in six hours.
Other yatras including the Lanka Vijay Hanuman temple Rathyatra in Amroli too attracted large crowds. In Pandesara and Sachin Jagannath temple Rathyatras too moved tin their respective areas amid great fanfare. Thousands of migrants of Oriya community joined the yatra. In Mahidharpura Dhodiya bava temple Rathyatra moved in parts of old city during morning hours.
Surat police deployed 4 DCPs, 12 ACPs, 20 PIs, 100 PSIs, 1,000 police personnel and 600 home guard jawans to man the yatra.