Cutting Of Wood For Puri Rath Yatra Chariots Begins At Cuttack Saw Mill

Puri: The cutting of logs for construction of the three chariots for the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath began at Cuttack on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami on Wednesday.

As per the rituals, a team of servitors from Puri reached the government saw mill at Khapuria in Cuttack with the Agyan Mala or holy garland of Lord Jagannath for the consecration ceremony. The team was led by superintendent of Rath works, Sudarshan Mekap.

After the divine permission, three logs of Dhaura wood have been sliced at the saw mill.

As per the long-followed tradition, the timber logs will be sliced till all the specified numbers of pieces are prepared for commencement of the construction works of the chariots from the day of Akshay Tritiya.

The construction of the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra takes place near the royal palace of the Jagannath Temple in Puri.

As per sources, 812 pieces of logs are required for the construction of three chariots for Lord Jagannath and his siblings. In the first phase, a total of 450 logs have arrived at the sawmill.  These include logs of phasi, simili, asana, dhaura, rai, mai, etc. As many as 30 workers are being engaged for cutting of the logs.