Bengaluru: The Jagannath Temple at Bengaluru’s Sahakar Nagar hosted Rath Yatra, Bahuda Yatra, Suna Besha and Niladri Bije ceremonies with festive fervour and fanfare.
The celebrations were organised by Shri Jagannath Seba Trust. The Temple at Amco Layout, Sahakar Nagar in north Bengaluru was aesthetically and elegantly decorated befitting to the grand occasion. On the Rath Yatra day, commencing from the wee hours special religious rituals were performed in front of the deities in a solemn ambience by main priest Ranjan Panda.
Thousands of Odias and non–Odia devotees along with their family members and relatives took part in the car festival. In the afternoon four Idols were taken in a grand procession to the colourfully decked up chariot parked in front of the temple. The designated King Raju Anna conducted the traditional sweeping in front of chariot in a ritual called Chherra Pahanra. Then the long-awaited process of pulling of chariot commenced. The whole atmosphere got reverberated with the lyrical sounds of Bhajan, Kirtan, chanting of hymns, raising of slogans like Hari Bol, Jai Jagannath and playing of musical instruments like Ghanta, Kartala, Cymbals, Jhanja and Mrudanga.
This year’s Rath Yatra evoked massive enthusiasm and unprecedented excitement among devotees. The 25 ft high chariot beautifully cladded with attractive applique works and alluring flowers was pulled up to 1.5 km and then taken back to the premises of the temple. The deities were decorated with golden attire called Suna Besa and offered Adhara Pana on July 6 and 7 respectively.
Finally, Niladri Bije ritual was celebrated on Tuesday with much pomp and splendour. The deities were taken back to the temple from the chariot in dhadi pahandi and then placed on the gem studded altar in the sanctum sanctorum by the servitors. The deities were offered rasagola as special bhog, the organisers said in a press release.
The entire arrangements of the Rath Yatra festival were well managed and smoothly conducted with the supervision of organisers of Shri Jagannth Seba Trust.