The world-famous Rath Yatra begins in Odisha with chants of Jai Jagannath

Bhubaneswar, July 7 (IANS): The world-famous Rath Yatra began in Puri on Sunday with the triad – Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra – entering on their respective chariots in a grand ceremonial procession amid chants of “Jai Jagannath”.

During the Phandi ritual, the deities are taken from the temple to their respective chariots.

According to tradition, Lord Krishna’s celestial weapon, Sudarshan Chakra, is brought and placed in the chariot of Goddess Subhadra, followed by Balabhadra, Subhadra and finally Lord Jagannath.

After the Pahandi ritual, Puri Gajapti Maharaj DibyaSingh Deb prays to the deities and performs the ceremonial sweeping of the chariots with a golden broom.

Later, the chariots are pulled by the devotees to the Gundicha Temple, the birthplace and garden house of the god Jagannath, about 3 km from the main temple.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees flocked to the holy town of Puri to catch a glimpse of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra pulling their chariots ‘Nandighosh’, ‘Taladhwaja’ and ‘Darpadalan’. The devotees are filled with pure devotion, chanting the holy name ‘Jai Jagannath’, ‘Hari Bol’ and dancing in ecstasy.

President Droupadi Murmu, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Odisha Governor Raghubar Das and Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and other dignitaries are in Puri to attend the festival of holy chariots.

To ensure smooth conduct of the major annual festival, the Odisha State Police has made extensive security and traffic arrangements.

“We have made elaborate security arrangements and divided the police teams into different sections, such as crowd control and regulation, traffic and parking issues. President Murmu is also visiting Puri, so special arrangements have been made,” said Pinak Mishra, Puri district police officer.

According to Mishra, two control rooms have been set up in the city, one to monitor traffic management and another to deal with any eventuality.

The Rath Yatra is unique this time as Netra Utsav, Nabajoubana Darshan and Rath Yatra fall on the same day today after 53 years.

Earlier, President Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Majhi had conveyed their congratulations to the people on the occasion.