Amidst sweltering heat, a sea of devotees on June 20 surged in the coastal town of Puri to witness grand spectacle of Rath Yatra — an annual event in which three deities Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra are taken out in their respective chariots from 12th century Shree Jagannath Temple.
As expected lakhs of people had travelled to the town using different mode of transportation and occupied every conceivable position to have glimpse of the three deities on their chariots, which is considered auspicious.
Though by 11 a.m., the daytime temperature had already soared past 35 degree Celsius and humidity was measured at 69%, people jostled for space on the three-kilometre long road known as Grand Road — the venue of Rath Yatra. In the run up Car Festival of three deities, lakhs of devotees had turned up to have drashan of deities in ‘Naba Jouban’ attire on Monday.
The day started with Sevayats (traditional priests of Shree Jagannath Temple) performing a series of intricate rituals inside the temple. Servitors brought huge idols by swaying them rhythmically as part of the ritual called ‘pahandi’. Devotees were seen standing still with folded hand and some prostrating as mark of devotion for deities. Many were dancing in ecstasy.
It was followed by customary ceremony known as ‘Chhera Panhara’ which was performed by Puri’s titular King Divyasingha Dev. After offering prayers, Mr. Dev cleaned wooden platform of three chariots with golden broom and sprinkled fragrant water on the surface.
After completion of all rituals, hundreds of police personnel towed down three chariots — Taladhwaja (Lord Balabhadra), Debadalan (Devi Subhadra) and Nandighosh (Lord Jagannath) along the Grand Roads amidst shouting of ‘Haribol’ and ‘Jai Jagannath’.
To ensure that the grand event passes off without any untoward incident, the State government had deployed 187 platoons of police for crowd control and preventing any act of sabotage. These personnel were led by more than 1,000 officers.
Besides, proceedings of Rath Yatra as well as security arrangement were being monitored through dozens of close circuit cameras installed at vantage positions.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were present in Puri to witness the Rath Yatra.
The Rath Yatra festival will go on for nine days. The sibling deities would return from Mausi Maa temple on the ninth day. The idols would be installed in the Shree Jagannath Temple again before other major rituals such as ‘Suna Besa’ (golden attire of deities) and Adharapana. Dozens of special trains are run by Indian Railways to bring devotees to town and move them out.
