Rath Yatra: Curfew to cut procession time by 7 hours in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: The annual Rath Yatra procession – which was carried out on the temple premises last year due to the pandemic – will be carried out on the empty streets accompanied by police convoy on Monday morning. Compared to 12-odd hours it takes for the chariots to return to the temple, the procession will be completed in 4-5 hours due to curfew, said organizers.
This is going to be for the first time in several decades that the procession will not have bhajan groups, akhadas, or tableaux accompanying the chariots. Several of the leaders of these groups visited the temple on Sunday and sought blessings of the deities.

“Result of RT-PCR tests of 139 sailors and sadhus who will be participating in the procession arrived on Sunday, and all have tested negative for Covid-19,” said a temple official. “The procession will only have five vehicles including three chariots pulled by the sailors and a car with Mahant Dilipdasji and trustee Mahendra Jha.”
On Sunday, hundreds of devotees thronged the temple to have a glimpse of ‘Sona Vesh’ (golden attire) of the deities that takes place only once a year. The chariots were brought inside the temple premises by the sailors as the decking up started by the devotees. The decked-up elephants were also brought inside the temple premises after they were painted by the mahouts and volunteer artists.
With fresh spell of rains on Sunday night, the authorities are expected to review the waterlogging on the route as the chariots will roll after Pahind ritual by CM Vijay Rupani and deputy CM Nitin Patel at 7am on Monday. The temple authorities have already announced that the prasad of sprouted green gram will be given to devotees after the procession from the temple for next fortnight.