Festive fervour in Odisha's Koraput

JEYPORE: Thousands of devotees pulled the chariots of the Trinity at Sabar Sreekhetra on Thursday.
The rituals of the nine-day sojourn of the Lords began in the morning amidst chanting of religious verses and beating of drums. The idols of the Trinity were then taken from the temple to the chariots.

After the Lords were given a special offering by the tribals, an elderly Sabar tribal Dasi Nayak of Kumba village performed the important ritual of ‘chhera pahanra’ atop the chariot of Lord Jagannath while Koraput Collector swept the chariot of Lord Balabhadra and the Zilla Parishad president performed the ritual on Devi Subhadra’s chariot.

For the first time since 1972, three chariots were constructed for the deities and the one for Devi Subhadra was pulled by women. Tribals of Bonda, Kondh, Mali, Gadva and other communities witnessed the rituals in their traditional attire adding a unique flavour to the festivities.

The district administration had made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the festival and over 1,000 police personnel and paramilitary jawans were deployed to maintain law and order.