Post News Network
Puri, July 14: The low turnout of devotees at the pilgrim city here to witness the Bahuda Yatra of Srimandir deities Thursday raised several questions regarding the organisation of the annual mega festival by the district administration and police.
The turnout of devotees for this year’s Bahuda Yatra was the lowest in a decade, according to sources. Contrary to the expectation, a maximum of 2.5 lakh devotees reportedly gathered in the holy city to witness the return journey of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.
Tourism department sources said 7.06 lakh devotees had visited the city during the Srigundicha Yatra of the deities in 2013 and 6.7 lakh for that year’s Bahuda Yatra. The holy city had witnessed a footfall of 7.67 lakh pilgrims during the Srigundicha Yatra of 2014 and 6.91 lakh devotees during that year’s Bahuda Yatra, sources said. More than 10 lakh devotees thronged the city to witness the Nabakalebara Rath Yatra of the Trinity last year. The number of devotees who had participated in last year’s Bahuda Yatra was estimated at 8.86 lakh, sources in the tourism department said.
Locals and social activists listed several factors for the low turnout of devotees for this year’s Bahuda Yatra. The biggest factor was the excessive restrictions imposed on traffic , they said. “Motor vehicles transporting devotees from Bhubaneswar, Konark and Brahmagiri area were stopped at least 5 km away from Grand Road. Police installed around 100 barricades on all major roads connecting Grand Road. Excessive traffic restrictions discouraged devotees from participating in the car festival,” said a social activist.
A few others have blamed the delay in the performance of rituals of the deities for the poor presence of devotees during the Bahuda Yatra. “Rituals of the deities have been frequently delayed because of the lack of coordination between the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and the servitors. Devotees were forced to wait for two hours to witness the Pahandi procession July 6,” said a resident of Puri.