Puri: Three iconic wooden chariots are ready to roll on the Grand Road here in this seaside pilgrim town for the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and sibling deities Thursday, with the entire Odisha government on high alert for the smooth conduct of the mega event.
A senior Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) official announced that the construction and decoration of the three chariots – Lord Balabhadra’s ‘Taladwaja’, Devi Subhadra’s ‘Darpadalan’ and Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’, is complete and they were taken to the ‘Singhadwar’ (Lion’s Gate) of the 12th-century shrine after getting ‘Agnyamala’ (garland from the deities indicating permission).
The chariots are standing on the Grand Road in front of the temple under high security cover. Lakhs of devotees from all over India and abroad will witness the pulling of the chariots Thursday.
“By the grace of Mahaprabhu (Lord Jagannath), the administration is fully prepared to conduct the annual Rath Yatra Thursday. Different government departments are involved in the preparation, along with the central armed police, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, apart from Odisha Police. All arrangements are in place to make the mega event successful,” Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee told reporters Wednesday.
As many as 13,000 police personnel with 15 companies (around 1,500 personnel) of the central armed forces, including commandos of NSG, RAF, personnel of CRPF, BSF and others, have already taken position, besides deployment of 500 lifeguards in the sea beach, said ADG (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar.
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After completion of all rituals, the pulling of chariots of the trinity is scheduled to begin at 4 pm after traditional rituals of ‘Chhera Pahanda’ (chariot sweeping by Gajapati Maharaja) and visit of Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, a temple official said, adding that around one lakh people have already reached Puri.
Odisha DGP Y B Khurania said a multi-layer security blueprint, including surveillance from land, water and air for the annual Rath Yatra in Puri, has been made. “This time we focus on crowd control, traffic management and emergency response on the land, while drone and anti-drone devices will look after aerial security,” he said.
A joint patrolling system of the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Odisha Police Maritime Station has been set up in the sea, and QRT (quick response team) to be deployed on ships, the official said.
The DGP said security vehicles are also deployed near the temple for any eventuality.
ADG Soumendra K Priyadarshi said special security arrangements are also made to avoid stampede situations, for which necessary facilities for accommodation of police force, orderly carriages, barricade arrangements, resolution of urgent problems in coordination with the district administration and special arrangements for orderly ‘darshan’ of devotees.
Police drones, anti-sabotage teams, bomb squads, and dog squads are also deployed.
Meanwhile, keeping in view the IMD forecast of heavy rain and thunderstorms, special arrangements are being made for draining of rainwater from the Grand Road.
The IMD has forecast heavy rainfall and issued a “red warning” (take action) for Puri, which recorded 143.8 mm of rainfall during 24 hours (till 8.30 am) Wednesday.
In view of the weather forecast, the Puri district administration has closed down all schools, including private ones, Wednesday.
In a special message (valid from 10 am to 4 pm) for Puri town, the IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre advised pilgrims to remain alert during lightning and thunderstorm activity.
Elderly devotees, children, and people with medical conditions were advised to avoid prolonged exposure to rain and crowded areas.
While the Indian Railways will run over 300 trains to Puri, Odisha government has engaged around 800 buses to transport devotees from different districts for the Rath Yatra Thursday.
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