Puri: While Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra reached Gundicha temple in Odisha’s Puri on the Rath Yatra day on Tuesday, Darpadalan of Devi Subhadra and Nandighosha of Lord Jagannath were delayed by a day.
Devotees are now wondering as to why the chariots of Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath could reach Saradha Bali in front of Gundicha temple only on Wednesday, a day after Rath Yatra.
While the chariot of Lord Balabhadra was pulled up to the destination yesterday, the pulling of chariots of Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra was stopped midway.
As rituals for the nine-day annual sojourn of the sibling deities of Jagannath Temple were completed an hour before schedule, questions are being raised over the delay. Most of the rituals including pahandi and pulling of chariots were completed much before the schedule yesterday. However, all the three chariots could not reach Gundicha temple on the same day.
According to Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Das, efforts are being made to ascertain the reasons for the delay. It is difficult to specify the exact reason as there is a difference between a man’s wish and Lord Jagannath’s wish.
Senior servitor Binay Das Mohapatra said there was a delay in controlling Taladhwaja chariot as it was heavily crowded. There were many people inside the cordon without passes, he said.
Moreover, the sweltering heat had slowed down the process of pulling of chariots, he said, adding that the servitors were also taking rest during Pahandi.
As a result, only Taladhwaja of Lord Balabhadra could reach Gundicha temple last evening.The pulling of chariots was stopped midway around 9 pm with Darpadalan of Goddess Subhadra at Badasankha and Nandighosh of Lord Jagannath at Mausima Chhak.
