Faith draws all to the land of Lord Jagannath

Footfall this time is not as high as expected, but still people from all parts of the country have travelled to Puri for the nine-day festival.
Representational image (File photo| Biswanath Swain, EPS)
Representational image (File photo| Biswanath Swain, EPS)

PURI: As the three majestic chariots of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra veered towards the Lions Gate of Srimandir on Thursday morning, the air filled with chants of ‘Jai Jagannath’ and ‘Hari Bol’ amid beats of cymbals.

Hundreds of devotees turned up at the stretch between Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) office and Srimandir and held on to the ropes of the chariots to pull them towards the temple one after the other.

Among the faithfuls were Vikas and his wife Sikha Agarwal. The couple from Uttar Pradesh has, for the first time, brought its severely autistic wheelchair-bound son Sangram to see the three majestic chariots and offer prayers from outside the Srimandir. While Vikas and Sikha pulled Lord Jagannath’s chariot for a short distance, 16-year-old Sangram looked on.

An Iskcon devotee offering seva along the
Grand Road in Puri, on Thursday| Express

“We have been here since a week to seek blessings of Lord Jagannath for our son. We didn’t know about the ‘anasar’ ritual of the deity and hence, had to wait till yesterday to get glimpse of Him. Since Sangram cannot go inside or come tomorrow to see the Rath Yatra because of the crowd, we decided to bring him here today,” said Vikas, a businessman.

Like the couple, many eagerly waited for the last two years to take part in the Trinity’s annual sojourn. Although the Rath Yatra crowd this time is not as high as expected, Puri witnessed people from all parts of the country irrespective of caste, creed and across all age groups for the grand festival.

Many senior citizens rushed to the Grand Road on the day to touch the holy ropes. “Tomorrow, it will be very crowded and chances for us to pull the chariots are remote. So we managed to at least pull Jagannathji’s chariot today,” said Ram Kumar Parihar, in his mid-60s, who came all the way from Jaipur, Rajasthan along with five of his friends. Two of them - Mahendra Joshi and Bhupendra Joshi - survived Covid during the second wave and wished to offer prayers to the three deities on their chariots.

“It is said that seeing the deities on the chariots is a blessing. Although we had wished to participate in the Rath Yatra earlier, we didn’t get an opportunity till this time,” said Mahendra who is a dairy farmer. The group has put up at the Bhakta Nivas.

The crowd puller of the day was another elderly devotee Daitari Samal of Kujang in Jagatsinghpur district. Carrying a packet of ‘Kotha Bhoga’ and a peacock feather, Swain danced throughout the Grand Road singing hymns in praise of the Lord for several hours despite the humid weather conditions. “I have no family. Lord Jagannath has been everything for me. Before Covid, I used to come here every year to pull His chariot. This time when the government allowed devotees to take part, I could not miss the Yatra for anything,” he said.

ISCKON devotees offer ‘seva’
Bhubaneswar: Like every year, a large number of ISKCON devotees have reached Puri. A majority of them are from Russia and have put up at the Goudia Matha in the town. On Thursday, many of the devotees cleaned the area outside Gundicha temple as their ‘seva’ for the Trinity. “It is great to be a part of this sea of humanity which loves Lord Jagannath as much as we do. We are trying to do small things as a mark of our devotion towards Lord Jagannath,” said Lila Ferret, an ISCKON devotee from West Bengal. While people were busy pulling the chariots to the Lion’s gate, another devotee from Russia Bhakta Sudama Das picked up Tulsi leaves that were strewn all around the Grand Road. “We consider Tulsi as our Maa. No one should step on her. So I picked up all the leaves I could see on the Bada Danda today,” he said.

TPCODL to ensure uninterrupted power supply in Puri
Bhubaneswar: THE TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) has initiated a number of measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply during Rath Yatra. Anticipating increased power demand, the utility has made arrangements to meet the load through three different grids sub-stations, Puri (132/33 KV), Samuka (132/33 KV) and Samagara (220/132/33 KV) of OPTCL. It has taken preparatory measures to deal with emergency breakdown by deploying two mobile transformers of 500 KVA at Puri as a back-up.

Fire Service steps up
Bhubaneswar: As lakhs of devotees are expected to congregate during Rath Yatra in Puri and humid conditions prevailing in the temple town, Odisha Fire Service has made elaborate arrangements for the convenience of the pilgrims. To prevent sunstroke and dehydration incidents, Odisha Fire Service will sprinkle water on the pilgrims during Rath Yatra and Bahuda. About 15 Quick Response Units and eight water tankers will be deployed for this purpose.According to the India Meteorological Department, Puri recorded 34.1 degree Celsius and 80 per cent humidity on Wednesday.

Guv unveils Scouts and Guides camp
Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal inaugurated the festival camp of Bharat Scouts and Guides in presence of Ministers Samir Ranjan Dash and Nabakishore Das at Gopabandhu Ayurved Medical College campus. Minister for Information and Public Relations, Environment and Forest Pradip Kumar Amat on Thursday inaugurated the Pallishree Mela, a special attraction for visitors in Bholanath Vidyapith campus.

Replica of Parikrama Project
Tata Projects, which is executing the Srimandir Parikrama Project, has prepared a replica of the entire project at the southern side of site.

Vaishnaw inaugurates spl ticket counters
Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated special ticket counters and mobile ticket booking units, new food court at Puri Railway Station complex and dedicated the free food counter for needy devotees.

No clarity on face mask distribution
Though State Government has announced to distribute 10 lakh face masks among devotees as a precaution against Covid-19, NGOs participating in the fete have no knowledge about it and there is no mechanism to implement the same. Footfall of devotees into the town is on the rise but face mask adherence was seen to be very low. Huge rush of devotees was noticed at several free food distribution counters.

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