Puri: Thousands of devotees thronged Odisha’s Puri on Saturday to witness Bahuda Yatra of the sibling deities — Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra – after the annual nine-day sojourn.
The return journey began with the ‘Pahandi Bije’ ritual during which the idols were carried from Shree Gundicha Temple to the chariots parked at Saradhabali in a ceremonial procession amid the beating of gongs, and blowing of conches and cymbals. The ritual started at 10.30 am, almost one and a half hours head of the scheduled time.
Chakraraj Sudarshan was first to be carried out from Shree Gundicha temple and seated at the ‘Darpadalan’ chariot of Devi Subhadra, who was brought out from Shree Gundicha Temple in a special procession called ‘Sunya Pahandi’ (the Goddess looking at the sky while being carried to the chariot) by servitors after Lord Balabhadra was seated on Taladwaja. Finally, Lord Jagannath made his way to his chariot Nandighosha.
Before the Pahandi, a number of customary rituals like ‘Mangla Arati’ and ‘Mailam’ were held.
Following which, Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deba performed Chhera Pahanra on the chariots.
Taladwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra rolled on at around 2.45 pm, though the schedule for pulling of chariots was fixed at 4 pm. It was followed by Darpadalan of Devi Subhadra. These chariots along with Nandighosha of Lord Jagannath will be pulled by devotees to the 12th-century shrine, the main seat of Lord Jagannath, a distance of about 2.6 km.
“All the rituals of Mahaprabhu are taking place ahead of their scheduled time. With Mahaprabhu’s blessings, everyone is working with great enthusiasm. We hope that the Yatra will conclude at the right time today…I extend heartfelt greetings and gratitude to our servitors for doing everything on time…,” Advisor to Odisha CM and former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra told the media.
This assumes significance since Rath Yatra on June 27 witnessed inexplicable delay as none of the three chariots could even be pulled half the distance from Shree Jagannath Temple en route to Gundicha Temple. andighosha, Lord Jagannath’s chariot, could barely move a few metres and had to halt for the night along Bada Danda (Grand Road) at around 7.45 pm.
The Puri administration had been on its toes to ensure an incident-free Bahuda Yatra after three lives were in a stampede at Saradhabali near Shree Gudicha Temple on June 29.
Security arrangements were significantly strengthened outside the Shri Gundicha Temple. “The administration has made an elaborate arrangement. About 205 platoons of police have been deployed, and senior officers are also present to monitor the entire arrangement. The entire town of Puri is under CCTV surveillance, and everything is being monitored from the control room.” DGP Y B Khurania told ANI.
THE PAHANDI RITUAL
