BALASORE: When the pulling of chariots stops in Puri, it begins in Soro. And it has been the practice there for five centuries. Nonde¬script Soro hogs the limelight during Rath Yatra as the chariot is drawn only after sunset. This year too hundreds of devotees pulled the chariot carrying Lord Jagan¬nath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhad¬ra after sundown. Even as the priests of Puri Jagannath Temple and the Puri district administra¬tion are at loggerheads over the pulling of chariots after sunset for the past few years, it had no bearing on the manage¬ment of Sri Sri Gosein Danda Baladevjeeu temple at Mubarakpur in Soro. The devo¬tees here claim that the chariots are pulled after the dark as part of a tradition. “Like previous years we have followed the tradition this year too. On the day of Rath Yatra we follow all the rituals as followed in Puri temple barring the chariot pull¬ing,” said Mahesh Panda, the temple priest. This apart, the deities here are unique in many ways. They are different from the deities in Puri and have no symmetry. While the idol of Lord Balabhadra is big¬ger than that of Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra, separate deities of Radha and Krishna have also been installed on the same puja mandap. Legend has it that about 500 years back, a Brahmin woman from Bengal carrying the deities in a bullock-cart was on her way to Puri. She had to keep the deities in the house of the Panda family here after the cart broke down. “We have been worshipping the deities since then. But due to lack of funds we couldn’t build a big temple. Though it was handed over to the Endowments De¬partment in 1944, nothing tangible has been done yet. Roof of the old temple leaks,” pointed out Panda. The temple administration of Puri has, however, no reservations against the unique tradition at Soro. “Though there is no strict rule prohibiting pulling of the chariots in the evening, some priests were opposing it, generating a fierce debate two years back in Puri. But last year it was decided to pull the chariot in the night if it is required during return journey of the deities as the ‘Sunabesa’ is scheduled for the next day,” said an official in Puri. While thousands of devotees from the district and outside congregate here every year to witness the unique Rath Yatra, the apathy of the Endowments Department towards the temple has ruffled the feath¬ers of the sevayat family and local resi¬dents. “Even no one is donating a single rupee for the construction of the chariot. Earlier it was being managed somehow but since 1976 without any contribution from the locals we have been bearing all the expenses keep the age-old tradition alive,” he added. Sribatsa Jena, ADM, promised to look into the people’s demand and assist in renovation of the temple as per the gov¬ernment provisions