Puri: The construction of chariots for Rath Yatra of sibling deities of Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri began on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya on Sunday.
As per the tradition, three logs of Dhaura trees were placed in ‘Rath Khala’ (workshop for making chariots), a temporary shed set up in front of the office of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in the Pilgrim Town.
Three priests brought ‘Angyamala’ (divine permission) from the temple in a procession to the workshop. After receiving the ‘Angyamala’, the priests of the temple, Rajguru and Brahmins performed puja to the logs.
After the puja and yajna were over, the ‘Viswakarmas’ (carpenters) performed the ritual of wearing of sarees to the logs in presence of Rupakar, Kamar, Chitrakar, Bhoi and Amin servitors.
As part of the ritual, each log was touched with a gold axe to mark the beginning of the construction of chariots for Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. First, the works on making the wheels of the chariots will be started. The Rath Yatra will be celebrated on June 20 this year.
The day also marked the beginning of 21-day Chandan Yatra of the three deities at Narendra pond in the town. The sibling deities would enjoy water sports to beat the summer heat.
Madan Mohan, the representative idol of Lord Jagannath, along with the representative idols of Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, Bhudevi, Sridevi and five Shivalingas known as Pancha Pandavas were taken out of the sanctum sanctorum.
They were placed in lavishly decorated palanquins, known as Bimanas and taken in a procession to Narendra tank.
