President Murmu joins around 1.5 million devotees in Puri Rath Yatra
This is the first time in the history of the Puri Rath Yatra that an incumbent President has participated in the festival
Around 1.5 million devotees from across the country thronged the temple town of Puri in Odisha to pull the three wooden chariots carrying Lord Jagannath and his siblings on the main thoroughfare as the historic Rath Yatra began on Sunday.
With the chants of ‘Jai Jagannath’ reverberating in the air, the Trinity-- Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra—were taken out from the 12th century temple to their respective chariots on Sunday afternoon.
President Droupadi Murmu, Odisha governor Raghubar Das, chief minister Mohan Majhi, deputy chief ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik paid their obeisance to the deities.
President Murmu pulled the chariot of Lord Balabhadra. This is the first time in the history of the festival that an incumbent President has participated in it.
As the chariots were being pulled, a male devotees died of suffocation near Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra, said Sushanta Patnaik, additional commandant of St John’s Ambulance. The identity of the deceased could not be known. A few other devotees suffered minor injuries when the Nandighosha chariot of Lord Jagannath was being pulled.
The rituals of the three deities began with Mangala Alati and Mailama niti, following which they were carried to their respective chariots by the temple servitors. The pulling of chariots began at 5pm after Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev swept the chariots road with a golden mop.
Servitors, devotees and police personnel first pulled Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra towards Srigundicha temple on the Grand Road amid religious fervour and enthusiasm in the evening. As per the tradition, Darpadalan Chariot of Devi Subhadra and Nandighosa chariot of Lord Jagannath follow Taladhwaja chariot on the Grand Road. As the Rath yatra would be a two-day affair this year due to a celestial arrangement, Lord Balabhadra’s chariot Taladhwaja halted at Marichikote Chhak, Goddess Subhadra’s Darpadalana chariot near Srikrishna Cinema Hall and Lord Jagannath’s chariot Nandighosa stopped after moving some distance from the main temple. The three chariots would be pulled by the devotees to the Gundicha temple, located 2.5 km away from the Jagannath temple, on Monday morning.
The Bahuda yatra (return car festival) will be held on July 15 and Sunabesha of the deities on July 17. After that the deities will enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
Rath Yatra is one of the main festivals of Odisha that commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath and his siblings from the Jagannath temple to their aunt’s abode in Gundicha temple. The Gundicha temple is the place where Jagannath is said to have taken the form in which he is currently worshipped. The Rath Yatra is the only time when Lord Jagannath comes out of his holy abode so that people of all religion can see him as only Hindus are allowed into the temple on regular days.
Odisha director general of police (DGP) Arun Sarangi said 180 platoons of police led by three additional DGPs and several IGPs have been deployed for the event as well as President Murmu’s visit. This apart, several units of bomb detection and disposal units, three companies of RAF, and five companies of CRPF have been deployed for the festival. The Badadanda or the Grand Road has been divided into six security zones and one senior officer will look after the arrangements in his/her respective zone. Besides, at least 164 CCTV cameras with artificial intelligence have been installed along the road and other parts of the town.
