Puri: The preparation for this year’s Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri was initiated on Friday with arrival of logs to make three chariots of the deities of Jagannath temple in the Pilgrim Town.
The logs, procured from Daspalla forest division, were first taken to Dadaraula Thakurani temple in Nayagarh. After a puja was solemnised for the logs, those were brought to Puri.
Three trucks carrying 102 pieces of logs arrived at “Ratha Khala” (workshop for making chariots) in the town. Of those, 50 belong to Asana type of trees and 52 to Dhaura trees.
According to sources, total 812 logs of wood will be required for construction of the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devis Subhadra for the Rath Yatra. While the temple administration has already 52 logs in store from previous year, the rest logs would come in phases, they said.
As per tradition, the chariot-making process will start on the day of Saraswati Puja when 12 Dharua logs will be worshipped. However, the actual work of constructing the chariots will commence from the day of Akshay Tritiya.
The Rath Yatra is scheduled to be organised on July 7 as per the Odia almanac.
