Rath Yatra Begins In Baripada, Kendrapara

Baripada/Kendrapara: The stage is set for Rath Yatra in Baripada and Kendrapara on Sunday. The festival at these two places is held a day after that in Puri.

The unique feature of Rath Yatra in Baripada is the that the chariot of Devi Subhadra is pulled by women devotees only.

While the chariots of Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra will roll out on Sunday, that of Lord Jagannath will be pulled the following day.

Besides, rituals like Pahandi of the deities and Chhera Pahara rituals are performed a day before Rath Yatra here.

For smooth conduct of the festival, elaborate security arrangements have been made with deployment of 20 platoons of police forces, including 10-12 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and 25 inspectors.

To keep a strict vigil on crowd movement, CCTV cameras have been installed at strategic locations in the town.

In Kendrapara, the Brahma Taladhwaja chariot of Shree BaladevJew Temple was pulled to some distance on Saturday according to the tradition.

The chariot would be pulled to the Mausi Maa temple by the evening.