PURI: Rath Yatra began on a tragic note today when one woman died and four others were injured in a stampede.
This happened despite all possible precautions taken by the administration to prevent a repeat of 2008 - six devotees perished and 40 were injured then.
The incident happened at 1.30 pm while devotees began pulling `Taladhwaj’ of Lord Balabhadra. As the speed picked up, many fell down while others trampled over them. Bijaylaxmi Mohanty, a middle-aged woman of the city, died on the spot. The four injured were rushed to the hospital. The injured have been identified as Pramod Sahoo of Rourkela, Narahari Sahoo of Bhadrak, Harihar Sahoo of Baranga and Alok Kundu of Kolkata.
On a sweltering day, an afternoon drizzle brought down the temperature.
A heavy security blanket had been thrown around the Holy City. This year, all the rituals were performed ahead of schedule. While ‘pahandi’ was fixed for completion by 12.30 pm, it was over by 10.45 am. ‘Chhera pahanra’ was completed two hours ahead of time. Puri Shankaracharya Neeschalananda Saraswati went around the chariots and offered prayers.
The first chariot of Lord Balabhadra began rolling at 1.30 pm, followed by ‘Darpadalan’ of Devi Subhadra at 2.05 pm. At last, Nandighosh of Lord Jagannath set off for their aunt’s house at 3.15 pm. The first stop was Mousima temple where the Lord relished the ‘podapitha’ (baked cheese cake) and then paid tribute to the ‘alien’ devotee near Salbeg Samadhi.
It was a sea of humanity in the pilgrim city and all roads led to the abode of the Trinity.
Over 10 lakh devotees witnessed the grand fete. ‘Haribol’ and vedic hymns rented the air as the Lords appeared at the main gate wearing giant diadems of flower called `tiaras’ and were escorted in ‘pahandi’ conducted by the ‘daita’ servitors. Odissi dancers and ‘sadhus’ danced in ecstasy to the tunes of drums, cymbals, bugles and conch shells. Gajapati Divyasingh Deb came riding a palanquin and performed the ‘chhera pahanra’ with a golden broom.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who commissioned the distribution of 'abhada torani’ (a drink of mahaprasad meant to cool the body temperature), was witness to the annual festival along with other ministers. Governor M C Bhandare too came calling. DGP Manmohan Praharaj, Chief Administrator of the temple P K Mahapatra, Puri Collector Fakir Charan Satpathy and SP Sanjay Kumar supervised the arrangements. All the three chariots reached Gundicha temple late in the evening.
