Rath Yatra at Sarana Srikhetra in Marada temple of Ganjam district is of a different kind. The chariot here is pulled a day after those at Puri.
Though there is no religious explanation for the delay, old-timers believe that with all devotees rushing to Puri on the day, there are not enough left in this shrine to pull the chariot. And as a result, the nine-day sojourn gets delayed by a day.
Interestingly, there are no deities but rituals including the Car Festival are regularly performed in Marada temple near Mathura village in Polosara block, about 50 km from Berhampur. The temple sheltered Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra for over two years more than two centuries ago. According to the legend, the idols of Jagannath temple were shifted to Marada in 1733 and the deities were kept in Marada temple for over two years. The then architects of the village had created a cave-shaped temple for the idols to hide them from Muslim invaders. The name of the then king of Athagadapatna, Jagannath Harichandan, who had built the rock temple at Marada to protect the deities, is still remembered during rituals at the Puri temple. The temple was constructed using stones of nearby Hatibari mountain.
Except the Sarana Srikhetra, chariots were pulled to the Gundicha temples in all other 239 Jagannath temples including small ones of the district.
At Jarada, Lord Jagannath is worshipped at Sarathi Gosain. Like Sarana Srikhetra, celebration at this temple is different. Here, pulling of the chariot of Sarathi Gosain begins before Lord Jagannath ascends on the Nandighosh chariot at Puri. Similarly at Gosaninuagaon, the chariot of Goddess Subhardra is pulled by women.
At Dharakote, queen Sulakshna Gitanjali performed the ‘Chhera Pahanra’.