Puri: Jagannath Yatra begins with devotees after a hiatus of two years

With Covid restrictions relaxed, this year, the state government allowed people to attend the festival but, on a condition, they wear their face masks

Published on: Jul 1, 2022, 11:10:31 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Around a million devotees from across the country congregated at Puri on Friday to attend the Jagannath Rath Yatra. The Rath Yatra was held in Puri without devotees for the last two years following a Supreme Court directive on likelihood of spread of Covid infection due to large scale congregation.

Rath Yatra was held in Puri without devotees for last two years following a SC directive. (HT photo)

With Covid restrictions relaxed, this year, the state government allowed people to attend the festival but, on a condition, they wear their face masks.

Also Read: For Jagannath Yatra, Puri all decked up to witness sea of humanity after 2 years

The state government would distribute 10lakh masks free to people coming for the festival.

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 in a special ritual called Pahandi Bije in which the idols of Jagannath and Balabhadra are pushed, pulled and dragged in rhythmic movement to the accompaniment of beating of drums, cymbals, blowing of conch and chanting of their names by the temple servitors.

On Friday, the rituals of the three deities began three hours ahead of schedule with Mangala Alati and Mailama niti of Lord Jagannath got over by 3:30am.

At first, Chakraraj Sudarsan was ushered to Nandighosha chariot followed by the Pahandi of Lord Balabhadra to Taladhwaja chariot, Subhadra to Darpadalan chariot and Jagannath to Nandighosha chariot. The three chariots were decked up in colourful clothes.

The Rath Yatra is the only time when Lord Jagannath comes out of his holy abode so that people of all faiths can see him as only Hindus are allowed into the temple on regular days.

To manage the huge gathering, 180 platoons of police and over 1000 experienced officers have been deployed in the temple town with at least three inspector generals of police working under the supervision of an additional director general of police.

To beat the sweltering heat, 10 fire pumps have been deployed at Bada Danda to spray water on the devotees.

Over 50 CCTV cameras have been installed along the main road to monitor the crowd movement from the integrated control room.

An ambulance corridor has been created and about 500 life guards deployed along Puri beach for rescue operations if needed.

The railways will operate 200 special DMUs to Puri from different locations apart from the regular trains.

President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi, chief minister Naveen Patnaik, union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav and other ministers extended their respective greetings for people on the occasion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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