Puri. A day after the Rath Yatra started in Puri, on Saturday, the chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath reached their destination Gundicha temple. Gundicha temple is considered to be the home of the ‘aunt’ of the gods who leave the Jagannath temple every year and go to the house of their ‘aunt’. Gundicha Temple is located 2.6 km from the 12th century Jagannath Temple. The deities will go to the main temple after nine days.
The Rath Yatra of return is called the ‘Bahuda Yatra’ which will be on July 5 this year. Earlier in the day, devotees started pulling the three chariots again at around 10 am today amidst the cheers of “Jai Jagannath” and “Hari Bol”. The Rath Yatra was stopped in Puri on the night of 27 June. The chariots were to reach the Gundicha temple by Friday evening, but the devotees had to stay on the Grand Road due to Lord Balabhadra being trapped at one turn of the chariot, so that the other two chariots could not move forward.
According to tradition, ‘Taladhwaj’ is at the forefront, followed by Goddess Subhadra’s chariot ‘Darpadalan’ and Lord Jagannath’s chariot ‘Nandighosh’. Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Director General of Police Y. B. Khurania and other senior officials were seen pulling the chariot of Lord Jagannath. When the chariots reached their destination, they were kept outside the Gundicha temple.
After the formal procession, the gods will be taken inside the temple on Sunday. Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabind Padhi said, “We thank all the stakeholders including devotees for the operation of the Rath Yatra.”
Officials said that about 10 lakh devotees took part in the annual Rath Yatra on Friday and about five lakh devotees were present in Puri on Saturday. He said that there was light rain on Saturday. The annual Rath Yatra is being organized amidst tight security with the deployment of about 10,000 personnel of Odisha Police, Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), National Security Guard (NSG). The police have made all arrangements for the smooth operation of the Rath Yatra. Director General of Police Khurania said that more than 275 AI (artificial intelligence) CCTV cameras have been installed to monitor the crowd.
Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over excessive delay in travel
Leader of the Opposition in the Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik expressed deep grief over the “terrible chaos” in the chariot yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri this year. He prayed on Saturday and said that God should forgive those who are responsible for this situation. Five -time Odisha Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik said that it is impossible to live without expressing concern and grief over whatever happened during the holiest event of the state.
Patnaik, who is taking health benefits after surgery at a hospital in Mumbai, wrote in a detailed post on ‘X’ on Saturday, “We are not here tomorrow to raise or blame the administration for the excessive delay in pulling the chariot of Nandighosh (Lord Jagannath). But the way things happened during the holy event in our state are uncomfortable.
Patnaik also said that it is difficult to forget that last year the idol of Lord Balabhadra slipped during ‘Adapa Bije Pahandi’ (procession on the path of Sri Gundicha temple), who shook innumerable devotees. He said in a long social media post, “And now this year, we saw that Nandighosh Rath (Lord Jagannath’s chariot) stood at the Singhdwar (Leo of the 12th century temple) till 7:45 pm, and could only move a few meters ahead just before the day ended.
The former Chief Minister said, “It naturally has completely disappointed and desperate to millions of devotees who came from all over the world to see this unique event.” Patnaik also mentioned that hundreds of devotees were injured due to poor management of mob management. He wrote, “We can only pray that Mahaprabhu Jagannath should forgive all the people responsible for this serious chaos on this divine festival. Hopefully, all the people of the government will introspect deeply in this regard.”
The chariots were to reach the Gundicha temple (which are considered to be the mother-in-law of the deities) by Friday evening, but they had to stop on the Grand Road, as Lord Balabhadra’s taldhwaj chariot got stuck while turning the chariot, so that the remaining two chariots could not move forward. Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said on Friday that this time the number of devotees was one and a half times more than normal due to favorable weather.
He said that the devotees who had come to draw the chariot of Lord Jagannath, especially, will now get this opportunity tomorrow. He said that the process of pulling the chariot was postponed at eight o’clock on Friday night, although all the rituals were completed on the scheduled time. On Saturday, devotees started pulling the chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath again. The Rath Yatra in Puri was stopped on the night of 27 June. Bah
Also read: Balabhadra’s chariot reached Gundicha temple amidst tight security, 600 devotees injured on the first day
