Puri: The three chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra arrived at ‘Saradhabali’ in front of Gundicha temple located on the north-eastern end of the Grand Road or Bada Danda.
Lord Balabhadra’s charito Taladhwaj was the first to reach the Gundicha temple followed sister Devi Subhadra’s Darpadalana or Debadalana chariot.
Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosha reached their Aunt’s abode at 6:30 pm today evening. All rituals were conducted as per schedule, on time, thanks to the coordination among Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Servitors, and other stakeholders.
All the rituals including the Pahandis, Chhera Panhara and pulling of chariots, were completed well ahead of the scheduled time. A sea of devotees thronged the Bada Danda to pull the three chariots from Singhadwara to their destination, the Gundhicha Temple.
Newly appointed SJTA Chief Administrator Vir Vikram Yadav led from the front to ensure that the festival is celebrated in a grand and incident-free manner, after a gap of two years.
During 2020 and 2021, the principal festival of Odisha was observed sans devotees. This year, as expected there was huge crowd on the Bada Danda to witness Rath Yatra.
Earlier today, the Magala Alati and Mailama niti of Lord Jagannath were completed by 3.30 am. This followed Chakraraj Sudarsan embarking on Darpadalana. After this, ‘Pahandis’ of the three Lords was carried out one after another.
Senior officials of the SJTA, Servitors, district administration, police, other security forces, fire personnel, and other stakeholders have thanked people for their support and coordination for the grand conduct of Rath Yatra.
