BHUBANESWAR: Intense heat and scorching weather notwithstanding, thousands of devotees took part in the Rath Yatra celebrations with utmost fanfare here on Tuesday.
The Iskcon temple at Nayapalli remained one of the major crowd-pullers as hundreds congregated near the temple to take part in the festival. Amid reverberating sounds of conch shells, gongs and bells, devotees were seen dancing with devotion as the chariots headed towards the Mausima temple at Unit VIII here.
Iskcon PRO Radhakanta Das said after the ceremonial ‘Pahandi Bije’ ritual, ‘chherapahanra’ of the three chariots of the Holy Trinity was performed by Bhaktiprana Gopinath Maharaj. “Despite inclement weather, the rituals were performed as per schedule. Nearly 50,000 devotees thronged the temple to witness the Lord’s annual sojourn,” he added.
Meanwhile, continuing its tradition, Shrivani Kshetra of KISS also celebrated Trinity’s annual sojourn with pomp and gaiety. The establishment of chariots was held according to the prescribed time and the ‘chherapahanra’ was performed by KIIT-KISS founder Achyuta Samanta.
Official sources said the chariots were pulled at around 4.30 pm. Over 40,000 devotees took part in the festival. The chariot of Devi Subhadra at both Iskcon and Shrivani Kshetra was pulled by women devotees.
At Vani Vihar, hundreds of devotees pulled the chariot of the Trinity on the university campus amid religious recitals and the beating of traditional instruments. Vice-chancellor of the university Prof Sabita Acharya performed the chherapahanra on the chariot.
Apart from these places, chariots were also pulled at Baramunda, Patia, Old Town, OUAT, Unit-V and many other places across the city though in some places the ritual was slightly delayed due to sultry weather. Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said the festival was celebrated in 57 places across the State Capital.
“Both the Rath Yatra celebrations and traffic management remained smooth at all places. Around 20 platoons of the police force were deployed in the city to ensure the hassle-free celebration of the car festival,” he added.