Three richly decorated chariots carrying the deities Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and their sister Devi Subahdra rolled on the Grand Road (Badadanda) of the holy town Puri on Thursday amid presence of lakhs of devotees from different parts of the country and abroad to witness the world famous annual Rath Yatra (Car Festival).
Earlier, in the morning, the deities were brought swaying (Pahandi) to the chariots from the sanctum sanctorum (Sri Mandir) by the priests and servitors amidst playing of conch, drums, blowing of trumpets and chanting of Hari Bol and Jai Jagannath.
About one million devotees occupied every conceivable place of the Grand Road, the three kilometers stretch from the Singhadwar to the Gundicha Temple, the destination of the chariots, to have a glimpse of the deities.
The convention being not to pull chariots after sun set, the chariots, which could not reach the destination before evening, have been parked at different points on the Grand road. The pulling will restart tomorrow, sources said.
The deities, who are on nine day sojourn, will be taken inside the Gundicha Temple tomorrow and will remain there before being carried back in the Return Car Festival on June 29 to their original abode.
Security personnel were deployed in strength to avoid any untoward incident during the pulling of the chariots. As many as 102 platoon of armed personnel, Rapid Action Forces, and bomb squads were deployed to conduct the festival peacefully.
“Elaborate security arrangements have been made in view of intelligence inputs about possible terror threat and likelihood of some groups creating disturbance,” said Manmohan Praharaj, Director General of Police.
Governor of Odisha Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare , Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik, Assembly Speaker Pradeep Amat, Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh were among the dignitaries who attended the festival.
There were no reports of any untoward incidents during the festival. However, official sources confirmed that two devotees including a woman died during the annual fest. The Car Festival was also celebrated in Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Chadigarh.
