Raths ready to roll on Grand Road today

PURI:  The three decked-up chariots of Lord Jagannath and his siblings are parked in front of Srimandir, ready to roll out on the Grand Road (Bada Danda) during the annual Rath Yatra on Monday. There will, however, be no congregation of devotees and visitors for the second consecutive year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, Pujapandas (temple priests) carried agyanmallyas (orders of the deities) in a procession from Srimandir to the Rath construction yard and handed over those to Biswakarmas (chief carpenters) to bring the chariots to Simhadwar. Putting their skills to test after labouring hard in Jagaghars (schools of martial arts), the young servitors pulled the chariots to the Lions gate and parked them at their designated places within an hour. Truck loads of flowers were used to decorate the main temple, three chariots and the Gundicha temple.

Chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Dr Krishan Kumar went to Gobardhan mutt and invited Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati to attend the Rath Yatra. As per protocol, the seer along with six of his disciples will be allowed to go to the chariots to offer prayers. The Shankaracharya accepted the invitation, informed Dr Kumar.

As per the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the State government, all rituals including pulling of chariots to Gundicha temple will be performed by servitors who have tested negative in the RT-PCR test. No devotee is allowed onto the Bada Danda during the festival.  

According to the Rath Yatra schedule released by SJTA, ritual will begin on Monday with Mangal Arati at 4.30 am followed by Mailum, Tadaplagi, Abakasha after which Gopal bhog and Khichdi bhog would be offered. Throughout Sunday night, Daita servitors would perform ‘Chhenapatta Lagi Seva’  (fixing of body armour) on the deities to bear the stress during Pahandi. The service will take around six hours, said Daitapati Ramachandra Dasmahapatra.

At around 8 am, Swotriya Brahmins would perform ‘homa’ at Simhadwar to consecrate the three chariots after Kanakmundis are affixed atop the chariots. Then the ceremonial Dhadi Pahandi would be performed with Lord Balabhadra first followed by Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath escorted to their respective chariots. It will begin at 8.30 am and completed at 11.30 am. 

Raths ready to roll on Grand Road today

At 12 pm, Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb will perform ‘Chhera Pahanra’ service on the chariots. Then the Shankaracharya along with his disciples would go up the chariots to offer prayers. Pulling of the first chariot Taladhwaja of Lord Balabhadra will begin at 3 pm followed by Darpadalana of Debi Subhadra and at the end, Lord Jagannath will come riding Nandighosha.

DGP Abhay reviewed the security arrangements with ADG, Law and Order RK Sharma, IG Central Range Narasingh Bhol and Puri SP K Vishal Singh. He appealed to residents to cooperate with police like the previous year to make the festival a success.

As many as 65 platoons of police force including 500 officers of various ranks have been deployed for the mega event. Curfew was imposed on the Grand Road at 8 pm which will remain in force till the same time on Tuesday. Police personnel will be stationed on rooftops of houses and buildings located along the Bada Danda. The chariots will be put under three layers of security. Security has also been beefed up around Gundicha temple.