Puri Rath Yatra: Odisha Coir Board Hands Over Hand-Rolled Ropes For Pulling Chariots

Bhubaneswar: With less than 2 weeks left for the Rath Yatra of sibling deities of Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri town, the Odisha Cooperative Coir Corporation Ltd (OCCC) supplied the ropes for pulling the chariots on Wednesday.

Speaking to media persons, manager of OCCC Surendra Kumar Sahu said around 26 heavy-duty coir ropes were handed over to Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) for use in Rath Yatra. Of those ropes, 14 will be used to pull the chariots and the rest 12 for security cordon around those.

“We have been supplying the ropes to be used in service of the Lords during Rath Yatra for the last 16 years. Of the 12 cordon ropes, nine will be used by police and security forces for maintaining inner and outer cordons,” Sahu said.

For the first time, the ropes have been prepared by the women members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Women members from 20 SHGs in different parts of the state were engaged in preparing the coir ropes, Sahu added.

As per tradition, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are now confined to Anasar Gahra (sick room) after taking holy bath during Devasnana Purnima.

The sibling deities will be kept away from public view for 15 days. On the 16th day, they would appear in their youthful forms – Naba Jaubana – before embarking on their nine-day annual sojourn on June 20.