PURI: Amid tight safety, the well-known Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath was once held in this pilgrim the town of Odisha on Saturday with fanfare, religious fervour, enthusiasm and a spirit of camaraderie.
Braving rains, lakhs of devotees from across the nation and abroad descended on the seaside the town to witness the nine-day adventure of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra to Gundicha Temple and again to their home.
Devotees from all walks of lifestyles made a beeline to the holy the town to have a glimpse of the presiding deities of the 12th century shrine of Shri Jagannath because the trinity mingled with the ocean of humanity during annual festival of chariots.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries greeted the folk on Lord Jagannath's annual automobile festival.
"Greetings on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, may our country scale new heights of growth. May every Indian be happy and prosperous," Modi said in a tweet.
Enthusiasm and excitement ran high among devotees because the deities remained indoors since "Snana Purnima" on June 28.
"Naba Jaubana Darshan" of the deities was once performed the day past once they remained confined in "Anasara Pindi" (recovery chamber) after the grand tub on "Snana Purnima".
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has banned climbing the chariots and touching deities via devotees.
If anyone climbs the chariots and touches the deities, it will be handled as a crime, Chief Administrator of SJTA, P Ok Mohapatra said.
However, the servitors assigned tasks to accomplish rituals can climb the chariots and touch deities.
With hundreds of thousands thronging the holy the town, police have made elaborate safety preparations via deploying 140 platoons of power (one platoon has over 30 group of workers) and 1,000 officers besides activating air and coast surveillance.
Some units of the Rapid Action Force, Odisha Swift Action Force and Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) also are deployed to ensure clean habits of the Rath Yatra, said Director General of Police (DGP), R P Sharma.
A multi-layer safety net were thrown to ensure clean habits of the festival whilst CCTVs were installed at various locations.
Security was once tightened outside the temple, across the 3 chariots and the Grand Road, sea seashore, railway station and the bus stand to prevent any untoward incident, he said.
"We are fully prepared to face any situation. Steps have also been taken to avoid any stampede like situation," said a senior police professional.
Devotees poured into the seaside the town to watch the grand ceremony and pull the three majestic and vibrant chariots on the "bada danda", the grand road.
Before the presiding deities -- Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and their sister Devi Subhadra -- set out from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, quite a few special rituals like Mangla Arati and Mailam have been held.
Descending from the Ratna Sinhasana, the bejewelled throne, the three deities have been taken out of the temple down the 22 steps known as "baisi Pahacha" in the course of the Lion's gate in an elaborate ritual called "Pahandi".
In a rhythmic taste, the chariots moved forward step-by-step to the accompaniment of thrashing of 'ghantas' and 'kahalis' and blowing of conch shells.
The trinity proceeded majestically in rhythmic movement in their adventure to the arena outside during Pahandi. At first Sudarshana, the celestial wheel of Krishna-Vishnu, was once taken out and placed in the chariot of Devi Subhadra adopted via Balabhadra, Subhadra and in any case Jagannath.
Ready to hold the deities for their annual nine-day sojourn to the Gundicha temple, nearly 3 kms away, the three majestic wood chariots waited outside draped in layers of purple, black, green and yellow fabric.
The 45-feet high "Nandighosh", the chariot of Lord Jagannath stood with 16 massive wood wheels, whilst the 44-feet high "Taladhawaja" with 14 wheels is legendary as Balabhadra's and Subhadra's "Darpadalan" was once 43-feet high with 12 wheels.
Shankaracharya of Puri Govardhana peeth, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati had darshan of the deities on the chariots at the side of his disciples.
Thereafter, the Gajapati Maharaja of Puri Dibyasingha Deb proceeded to the chariots to accomplish the Chhera Panhara ritual via sweeping the platform with golden broom.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) is working special trains to transparent the additional rush of passengers for the auto festival.
Numerous CCTVs were installed across the town with an built-in surveillance regulate room close to the Jagannath Temple.
Braving rains, lakhs of devotees from across the nation and abroad descended on the seaside the town to witness the nine-day adventure of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra to Gundicha Temple and again to their home.
Devotees from all walks of lifestyles made a beeline to the holy the town to have a glimpse of the presiding deities of the 12th century shrine of Shri Jagannath because the trinity mingled with the ocean of humanity during annual festival of chariots.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries greeted the folk on Lord Jagannath's annual automobile festival.
"Greetings on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, may our country scale new heights of growth. May every Indian be happy and prosperous," Modi said in a tweet.
Enthusiasm and excitement ran high among devotees because the deities remained indoors since "Snana Purnima" on June 28.
"Naba Jaubana Darshan" of the deities was once performed the day past once they remained confined in "Anasara Pindi" (recovery chamber) after the grand tub on "Snana Purnima".
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has banned climbing the chariots and touching deities via devotees.
If anyone climbs the chariots and touches the deities, it will be handled as a crime, Chief Administrator of SJTA, P Ok Mohapatra said.
However, the servitors assigned tasks to accomplish rituals can climb the chariots and touch deities.
With hundreds of thousands thronging the holy the town, police have made elaborate safety preparations via deploying 140 platoons of power (one platoon has over 30 group of workers) and 1,000 officers besides activating air and coast surveillance.
Some units of the Rapid Action Force, Odisha Swift Action Force and Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) also are deployed to ensure clean habits of the Rath Yatra, said Director General of Police (DGP), R P Sharma.
A multi-layer safety net were thrown to ensure clean habits of the festival whilst CCTVs were installed at various locations.
Security was once tightened outside the temple, across the 3 chariots and the Grand Road, sea seashore, railway station and the bus stand to prevent any untoward incident, he said.
"We are fully prepared to face any situation. Steps have also been taken to avoid any stampede like situation," said a senior police professional.
Devotees poured into the seaside the town to watch the grand ceremony and pull the three majestic and vibrant chariots on the "bada danda", the grand road.
Before the presiding deities -- Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and their sister Devi Subhadra -- set out from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, quite a few special rituals like Mangla Arati and Mailam have been held.
Descending from the Ratna Sinhasana, the bejewelled throne, the three deities have been taken out of the temple down the 22 steps known as "baisi Pahacha" in the course of the Lion's gate in an elaborate ritual called "Pahandi".
In a rhythmic taste, the chariots moved forward step-by-step to the accompaniment of thrashing of 'ghantas' and 'kahalis' and blowing of conch shells.
The trinity proceeded majestically in rhythmic movement in their adventure to the arena outside during Pahandi. At first Sudarshana, the celestial wheel of Krishna-Vishnu, was once taken out and placed in the chariot of Devi Subhadra adopted via Balabhadra, Subhadra and in any case Jagannath.
Ready to hold the deities for their annual nine-day sojourn to the Gundicha temple, nearly 3 kms away, the three majestic wood chariots waited outside draped in layers of purple, black, green and yellow fabric.
The 45-feet high "Nandighosh", the chariot of Lord Jagannath stood with 16 massive wood wheels, whilst the 44-feet high "Taladhawaja" with 14 wheels is legendary as Balabhadra's and Subhadra's "Darpadalan" was once 43-feet high with 12 wheels.
Shankaracharya of Puri Govardhana peeth, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati had darshan of the deities on the chariots at the side of his disciples.
Thereafter, the Gajapati Maharaja of Puri Dibyasingha Deb proceeded to the chariots to accomplish the Chhera Panhara ritual via sweeping the platform with golden broom.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) is working special trains to transparent the additional rush of passengers for the auto festival.
Numerous CCTVs were installed across the town with an built-in surveillance regulate room close to the Jagannath Temple.
Lakhs of devotees attend Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath at Puri
![Lakhs of devotees attend Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath at Puri]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
July 14, 2018
Rating:
