Puri: Darpadalana chariot of Goddess Subhadra and Nandighosha chariot of Lord Jagannath reached Saradha Bali in front of Gundicha temple in Odisha’s Puri on Wednesday morning.
While rituals for the nine-day annual sojourn of the sibling deities of Jagannath Temple were completed an hour before schedule, the sweltering heat slowed down the process of pulling of chariots and only Taladhwaja of Lord Balabhadra could reach Gundicha temple last evening. The pulling of chariots was stopped midway around 9 pm with Darpadalan chariot of Devi Subhadra at Badasankha and Nandighosh of Lord Jagannath at Mausima Chhak.
The onward journey began this morning. On reaching Gundhicha temple, Mangal Alati of Lord Jagannath was conducted atop his Nandighosha chariot. The deities will remain atop the chariots and will be taken to Adapa Mandapa of the temple in Pahandi ritual on Thursday evening.
A staggering 11 to 12 lakh devotees had flocked to Grand Road to witness the deities ride chariot to Gundicha Temple, their birthplace, around 3 km away from Srimandir.
On Tuesday, Pahandi rituals started at 8.35 am and were completed by 12 noon. Lord Balabhadra lead the chariot pulling procession in Taladhwaja around 3.04 pm followed by Darpadalana of Devi Subhadra at 3.55 pm and Nandighosa of Lord Jagannath at 4.40 pm.
Elaborate arrangements were made by the district administration for smooth conduct of the festival.
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