Puri: ‘Ratha Katha Anukula’, the initiation ceremony for construction of chariot for Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra was held on the occasion of Sri Panchami today evening.
Purohit, Rajguru and Stotriya brahmins consecrated three 12-feet long Dhaura logs kept at the ‘Ratha Khala’ by sprinkling of ‘pancha amrit’ between 6 pm and 7 pm after worshiping goddess Saraswati on the occasion of Basant Panchami.
These logs will be sawed on the occasion of Ram Navami (March 30) this year at the saw mill in Cuttack for the construction of chariots for the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings.
Similarly, on the occasion of Akshay Trutiya (April 23) construction of chariots will begin.
Worth mentioning, as per tradition the first phase of logs reaches the Ratha Khala before Basanta Panchami, while all the logs reach the Ratha Khala before Akshay Trithya Tithi. A total of 865 pieces of wood are required to build the three chariots.
