Bhubaneswar: The Rath Yatra celebration in Puri experienced significant delays today, with the Nandighosa chariot of Lord Jagannath facing the most substantial hold-up due to overcrowding of devotees inside the cordon.
After a brief period of pulling, the chariot’s movement was halted, and chariot-pulling activities were put on hold for the day. The Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee confirmed that chariot pulling will resume tomorrow.
The holy trinities continued to give darshan to devotees on their respective chariots, despite the procession being paused for the day.
The Rath Yatra proceedings were reported to be peaceful and without any major incidents. The Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration extended his gratitude to the servitors, Srimandir employees, district and police administration, government institutions, media, and lakhs of devotees for their cooperation in ensuring the smooth conduct of the Gundicha Yatra arrangements, SJTA stated through ‘X’.
The chariot pulling will resume at 9.30 AM tomorrow, soon after the Abakash ritual of the trinities on their respective chariots, said Padhee. He attributed the delay in pulling of chariots despite the completion of rituals well before time to overcrowding.
The Taladhwaja (Lord Balabhadra) and Debadalana (Devi Subhadra) also encountered difficulties, getting stuck at different points along the route. Taladhwaja chariot stopped at Balgandi Chhak and the Darpadalana chariot halted near the Marichikot Town Police Station. The Nandighosh stopped near Singhadwar just after rolling for a few metres as per ritual. Despite these challenges, all rituals were reportedly performed on schedule, said Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan.
Harichandan attributed the delay to the large number of devotees participating this year and the time-consuming process of pulling Lord Balabhadra’s chariot. He assured that all devotees would have the opportunity to pull the chariots again tomorrow when the procession resumes. The Nandighosa chariot finally began rolling at 7:45 PM as per ritual, but the day’s activities were brought to a close shortly after.
