Slogans of ‘Jai Jagannath’ fly in the air as devotees pull the chariots of Lord Jagannath and his two divine siblings at this seaside pilgrimage town, where nearly seven lakh people gathered to celebrate the Rath Yatra festival on Friday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the general public was not allowed to participate in the festival during the last two years.
The huge chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, Taladvaja, Darpadalana and Nadighosh started their journey from the 12th century Jagannath temple at 4 pm and reached their destination at Sri Gundicha temple, about three kilometers away before sunset.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said the deities would stay on chariots overnight and enter their birthplace at Shree Gundicha Temple on Saturday evening. Tight security arrangements were made by the district administration and extensive measures were taken. DGP SK Bansal said that no untoward incident took place and the chariot pulling was completed smoothly with the participation of devotees.
Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Dr Muralidhar pulled Nandighosh’s chariot among lakhs of devotees. Two other Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnav and Bisheshwar Tudi were also present.
“The message of brotherhood is being spread across the world through the entire Rath Yatra. must also reach Ukraine And Russia should stop fighting and put to shame the brotherhood,” said Governor Ganeshi Lal. Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati along with his chosen disciples performed darshan of the deities on chariots as per tradition. This was followed by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb, the Namdhari Raja of Puri, performing the ‘Chhera Pahad’, the ritual of cleaning the chariots with a gold broom. The chariot of the titular king gives a message that both the king and the common man are equal before the Almighty.
“We were denied to pull chariots for the last two years. This time we are lucky,” said Gagan Behai Dash of Kendrapara, who traveled 100 kms on a motorbike to participate in the festival. Although it did not rain for the whole day and the sky remained cloudy, many people fainted. He was shifted to the hospital through the green corridor created by the government.
There were 10 ambulances and 20 stretchers with around 1,000 volunteers ready to serve the people. The administration also distributed around 10 lakh face masks among the devotees to prevent its spread. coronavirus Which has recently started infecting people. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and many other dignitaries greeted the people on the occasion. The Rath Yatra, which marks the nine-day stay of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at the Gundicha temple, is held every year on the second day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Ashadha according to the Hindu calendar.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh newswatch top videos And live TV Here.