Puri: The pulling of three chariots of the Lords during Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri town was stopped much ahead of the destination as the evening set in on Sunday.
As part of annual Rath Yatra, the chariots of the sibling deities of Jagannath Temple in Puri were started to be pulled at around 4.45 pm. Lakhs of devotees had thronged the Bada Danda (Grand Road) to participate in the chariot pulling.
As per the tradition, the Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra was pulled first amid chanting of Hari Bol, beating of cymbals and other musical instruments. Taladhawaja was followed by Darpadalan chariot of Devi Subhadra. Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosh chariot was the last chariot to be pulled by the sea of devotees.
With the evening set in, the chariot pulling was stopped as it is prohibited to roll the chariots at night, according to the customs. While Taladhwaja was stopped at Marichikote Chhak, Darpadalana was halted near Srikrishna Cinema Hall. Nandighosa could be pulled for a short distance from Singhadwar (Lions Gate) in front of the temple before applying brake to the chariot for the day.
However, the pulling of three chariots will resume on Monday. The Lords will go to Gundicha temple as part of their nine-day annual sojourn.
President Droupadi Murmu, Odisha Governor Raghubar Das and Chief Minister Mohan Majhi participated in pulling the chariots. In a rare occurrence, the chariot pulling will be done for two days this year.
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