Puri: The three chariots of Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities are ready to roll along Puri’s Grand Road Thursday as the Odisha government braces for the attendance of lakhs of devotees for a possibly rain-soaked Rath Yatra.
The temple town has been blanketed by a multi-layered security cover with the deployment of personnel from state police, central forces, Indian Navy and Coast Guard, while special focus is on crowd control, traffic management and emergency response.
Puri received a staggering 143.8 mm of rain on the eve of the iconic annual chariot festival and has battened down the hatches for heavy showers Thursday as the weather department issued a red warning for heavy showers and thunderstorms.
Special arrangements have been made to drain out rainwater from the Grand Road and facilitate a smooth procession, as devotees pull the chariots along the thoroughfare from the 12th-century shrine to the Shree Gundicha temple, around 2.6 km away.
Puri Collector D J Parida said pumps were being used to drain out water.
A senior Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) official said the three wooden chariots — Lord Balabhadra’s ‘Taladwaja’, Devi Subhadra’s ‘Darpadalan’ and Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’ — have been taken to the Jagannath Temple’s main gate for the procession.
“The administration is geared up for a smooth conduct of the annual Rath Yatra Thursday with the involvement of different departments along with the central armed police, Indian Navy and Coast Guard,” SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee told reporters Wednesday.
He met Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati and apprised him about the preparations made by the temple administration for the smooth, safe and orderly conduct of the festival. The SJTA also invited the governor to attend the Rath Yatra in Puri Thursday.
As many as 13,000 police personnel with 15 companies of the central armed forces, commandos of NSG, and 500 lifeguards on the sea beach have already been positioned, said ADG (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar.
According to the schedule, the rituals to bring the idols out of the temple and seat them on the chariots will be held between 9 am and 1 pm.
Devotees will begin pulling the chariots at 4 pm after the traditional chariot sweeping by Puri’s titular king Gajapati Maharaja and Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati’s visit, a temple official said.
Odisha police chief Y B Khurania said a multi-layered security plan, including surveillance from land, water and air, has been put in place.
“We will focus on crowd control, traffic management and emergency response on the land, while drone and anti-drone devices will aid in aerial security,” he said, adding the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Odisha Police Maritime Station’s quick response teams will patrol the coast.
ADG Soumendra K Priyadarshi said special security arrangements have been made to avoid any stampede-like situations, while anti-sabotage teams, bomb squads, and canine squads have also been deployed.
Last year, three people were killed in a stampede during the Rath Yatra.
He appealed to all officials to perform duties not just as government staff, but also as dedicated servants to the Lord.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and many ministers are in Puri to monitor the conduct of the festival.
In view of the inclement weather forecast, the Puri district administration closed down all schools Wednesday. The weather department advised pilgrims to remain alert for lightning and thunderstorms.
While the Indian Railways will run over 300 trains to Puri, the Odisha government has engaged around 800 buses to transport devotees from different districts for the Rath Yatra Thursday.
In the state capital, elaborate security arrangements have been made for the festival.
The Rath Yatra by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will be held at its temple near CRP Square. Various institutes and cultural bodies in Bhubaneswar will also hold the chariot festival.
Kalinga Sena had warned ISKCON against holding the Rath Yatra in Bhubaneswar over the latter allegedly rejecting Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb’s appeal to hold the festival across the globe according to scriptures.
A total of 21 platoons of police force have been deployed in the city, eight of them at the ISKCON temple, an officer said. One platoon comprises 30 personnel.
The police have also issued a traffic advisory detailing vehicle restrictions and diversions around the ISKCON temple area.
