Puri Rath Yatra: Lord Jagannath & Siblings Resume Journey Towards Gundicha Temple

Puri: Pulling of the three chariots of the Lords of Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri resumed on Monday as Bada Danda drowned in devotion of devotees after some intense spells of rains.

The three-kilometre Grand Road stretch was again teeming with pilgrims early this morning as they congregated for darshan of the sibling deities on their respective majestic chariots. Lord Balabhadra’s Taladhwaja had stooped at Marichikote Chhak, Devi Subhadra’s Darpadalana near Srikrishna Cinema Hall and Lord Jagannath’s Nandighos halted after moving some distance from Singhadwara the previous evening.

This year, Rath Yatra is a two-day affair and considered unique with three rituals – Netra Utsav, Nabajaubana Darshan and Rath Yatra – being held on the same day. A similar celestial arrangement had occurred 53 years ago, in 1971.

On Sunday, the ceremonial procession of the three deities started at around 11 am, much ahead of schedule, and Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath were taken to their respective chariots before 1 pm. The Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee and Chhattisa Nijog had earlier decided to begin the ‘Pahandi’ at 1.10 pm. Shankaracharya of Puri Swami Nischalananda Saraswati then visited the three chariots along with his disciples and offered prayers. This was followed by ‘Cherrapahanra’ ritual by Gajapati of Puri Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb. The pulling of the first chariot—Taladhwaja—began at around 5 pm, as per the schedule.

President Droupadi Murmu, Governor Raghubar Das and Chief Minister Mohan Majhi also joined the devotees in pulling the chariots of the Lords.

The first day, however, started on a tragic note as a male devotee died of suffocation while several others were injured after a stampede-like situation near the Hindi school, about 200 metres from Simhadwar, amid a mad rush to pull the Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra. This apart, over 300 devotees were hospitalised due to various reasons, including dehydration, suffocation and injuries during chariot pulling.