Puri: A day after the sibling deities of Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri embarked on their 9-day annual sojourn, the pulling of Devi Subhadra’s Darpadalana and Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosha, which were stuck midway, resumed on Wednesday.
While rituals were completed an hour before schedule, the sweltering heat slowed down the process of pulling of chariots and only Taladhwaja of Lord Balabhadra could reach Gundicha temple last evening.
A staggering 11 to 12 lakh devotees flocked to Grand Road to witness the deities ride chariot to Gundicha Temple, their birthplace. They jostled with each other to take rope during the pulling of chariots as a wave of euphoria swept across Puri with chants of Jai Jagannath reverberating across the town. Among the chariot pullers were Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Chief Justice of Orissa High Court S Muralidhar and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
It was a challenge for the security personnel and volunteers to control the crowd.
Hundreds of devotees were also severely affected by the heat and were rushed to hospitals. About a dozen sustained injuries after they fell down after hitting a motorcycle parked by the roadside while pulling Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra near Marchikot Chowk, about 300 metres from the Jagannath Temple. Several others were also injured in commotion during the pulling of Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosha.
Police have, however, denied any stampede-like situation during the festival. “Due to the heavy rush, five of them sustained minor injuries. No stampede broke out,” Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh said.
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