KENDRAPARA: The 65-foot high chariot of Baladevjew temple, also known as Tulasi Khetra’ finally reached Mausima temple on Wednesday. The chariot could not be pulled on Sunday after a devotee touched the deities in the temple. On Monday and Tuesday, a few wheels of the chariot developed cracks as a result of which it could not be pulled by devotees. A few wheels developed cracks on the day too but they were rectified. In order to avoid further damage to the wheels, the chariot Bramahataladhawaja was pulled slowly on the day and reached Mausima temple in the afternoon, said executive officer of the temple, Balabhadra Patri.
The inexperienced driver was responsible for the fault as he had moved the chariot in the wrong direction, added Patri. Meanwhile, a large number of devotees criticised the temple management committee for the delay of four days for the chariot to reach Mausima temple. “The temple authorities used old timber to build the wheels of the chariot as a result of which a few of them developed cracks,” said Sahadev Dash, a priest of the temple. After a night stay, the deities will be taken into Mausima temple on Thursday in ‘pahandi’.