Thousands of devotees witness Ratha Yatra in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: The devotees of the capital city on Sunday who could not attend the Ratha Yatra at Puri celebrated the auspicious occasion 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.

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 afternoon.   

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, Nandankanan, Unit-6 area, RCM Jagannath temple, Chidananda Vihar at Khandagiri, Jagamara, Old town and Barmunda village.