Thousands of devotees witness Ratha Yatra in city

BHUBANESWAR: When lakhs of eye-balls were rolling to see the three deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra on the chariots at Puri and outside Puri especially in front of the television to witness the world famous Ratha Yatra at Puri, the devotees of the capital city on Thursday who could not attend the Ratha Yatra at Puri celebrated the auspicious occasion amidst tight security and religious fervour by going different Jagannath temples in the city to experience the holy moments.  

Like every year, the capital city geared up for the religious festival. Ratha Yatra was celebrated in different places of the city. Mostly Jagannath temples have arranged the Yatra to continue their tradition. On Thursday two platoon police forces were deployed to control the crowd during the Ratha Yatra, sources said.

According to the rituals of the age-old tradition, the festival in the Jagannath temples in the city began with worshipping the three deities before taking them to the chariots. Then the priests took them to the respective chariots in a ceremonial rite ‘Pahandi’ and ‘Cherapahanra’ and then the pulling of chariots began.

From other temples in the city, the Ratha Yatra festival at the ISKCON temple was crowded as thousands of devotees witnessed the Yatra. The chariot of Balabhadra, big brother of Lord Jagannath, was ahead of Lord Jagannath and his sister Subhadra. The chariots were reached the destination Mausimaa temple at Unit-8 in the evening.    

“When I touched the chariots of the deities it was a different feeling which can not be expressed. We can feel it while pulling the chariots of the three deities as the feeling is eternal,” said a devotee Shanti Kumari of Nayapalli in the city. “It is not possible to go to Puri every year, but we get the opportunity to see the deities here,” said a devotee of Unit-8 area.

In Patia, the Ratha Yatra was celebrated according to the rituals of Puri Srimandir. Besides, the festival was celebrated in the Jagannath temples of KIIT campus, Barmunda, Unit-6 area, Chidananda Vihar at Khandagiri, Jagamara and Barmunda village.