Rath Yatra: Raths set to roll out today, curfew to keep devotees away from Puri

BHUBANESWAR: The restrictions forced by the Covid-19 pandemic could not dull the fervour of the Rath Yatra with the deities of the Jagannath temple in Puri set to embark on a nine-day journey to their birthplace, the Gundicha Temple,on Monday marking the beginning of the state’s biggest festival.
While the 12th century shrine’s centuries-old rituals have remained unaffected by the pandemic, the buzz of devotees on the Grand Road or Bada Danda, as the locals call it, is missing owing to the ban on their participation in the Rath.

The three km Grand Road from the Jagannath Temple right up to the Gundicha Temple used to brim with devotees erupting in joy during the Rath before Covid-19 changed everything.
While Puri will remain out of bounds for tourists with the imposition of curfew from 8pm on Sunday, local residents were lucky enough to be able to offer their prayers outside the temple and touch the chariots a day before the Rath Yatra. The curfew will remain in force until 8pm on Tuesday. The hotels on both sides of the Grand Road have been vacated.
“We cannot move out of our homes on Monday. To get a feel of the Rath Yatra, we went near the empty chariots a day before and paid our obeisance. We will miss the spectacle of the deities aboard the grand chariots for the second year in a row,” Subasini Tripathy, a Puri resident, said. The Singha Dwar (Lion’s Gate) in front of the Jagannath Temple was soaked in religious fervour as servitors pulled the three chariots from the Ratha Khala (where they were being made) to the main gate of the shrine amid the beating of cymbals and blowing of conches.
The chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration visited the Govardhan Math and invited Puri Shankaracharya, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, to offer prayers to the deities atop the chariots on Monday.