Berhampur: The ritual of felling trees for the construction of the three chariots for the Rath Yatra festival in Puri started in the North Ghumsara forest range in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Thursday. Today two dead phasi trees (Anogeissus acuminate) identified by the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) were felled in the Central Kalimba forest amid chants of Jai Jagannath and rituals.
It is worth mentioning here that about a week back, a team representing the SJTA visited the region and identified 29 trees in the Central Kalimba, Tarasinghi and Mujagada forests.
Nine phasi trees and 20 dhaura trees (Anogeissus latifolia) were identified for the construction of chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.
Before felling the trees, a large number of local women welcomed everyone by drawing jhotis on the road leading to the forest. Local villagers and Forest department officials gathered to witness the felling of trees.
According to tradition, the logs will be sliced as per specified numbers of pieces for the commencement of chariot construction works of the chariots from the day of Akshay Tritiya. Traditionally, 865 logs of dhaura, phasi and asana logs are used in the construction of the three wooden chariots of the Holy Trinity.
This year, the Rath Yatra of the Holy Trinity is scheduled to be held on June 20.
