Puri: The chariot pulling resumed on the second day of Rath Yatra as lakhs of devotees converged on Bada Danda to pull forward the three cars of Holy Trinity from Jagannath temple towards Gundicha temple in Puri, Monday.
This year, the annual Rath Yatra is being celebrated over two days here.
In a departure from tradition, some of the rituals, including ‘Nabajouban Darshan’ and ‘Netra Utsav’, were conducted Sunday. These rituals are generally held ahead of the Rath Yatra.
The air in Puri reverberated with chants of ‘Jay Jagannath’ and ‘Haribol’ as devotion around a million devotees converged on Badadanda to get a glimpse of the sibling deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra – on the first day of this year’s Rath Yatra. Various artiste troupes performed ‘kirtans’ and Odissi in front of the chariots ahead of the ‘pahandi’ procession. While a majority of the devotees were from Odisha and the neighbouring states, many from abroad too joined the celebrations in what is considered one of the largest religious congregations on earth.
Tight security arrangements have been put in place, with the deployment of 180 platoons of security personnel, Puri Superintendent of Police Pinak Mishra said.
Artificial intelligence-based CCTV cameras have been installed at Badadanda, the venue of the festival, and other strategic locations in the pilgrim town, said ADG (law and order) Sanjay Kumar.
PNN & Agencies
