BHUBANESWAR: After the nine-day sojourn, the three divine siblings - Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath - returned to their abode in Bhubaneswar.
To bring them back home, thousands of devotees turned out on the streets pulling the chariots from Mausima temples. Nearly a lakh devotees followed the three chariots of Iskcon temple from the Gundicha temple near DAV Public School, Unit VIII amidst chanting of ‘Hare Krishna Hare Rama’ while Iskcon devotees were seen leading the public in groups forming ‘Sankirtan’ teams.
The Iskcon Bahuda Yatra started with ‘Mangala Arati’ at 7.30 am followed by ‘Chhera Pahanra’ at 2 pm. The chariot pulling started at around 3 pm in the presence of Bhubaneswar Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
Women devotees pulled ‘Darpadalana’, the chariot of Devi Subhadra, and all the chariots reached the main temple at Nayapalli by 6.15 pm.
The Bahuda Yatra was also celebrated on Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and Utkal University campuses with ceremonial splendour.
The festival at KISS was celebrated peacefully from early morning as per the tradition of Jagannath Temple at Puri. Cultural programmes were also organised on the campus. Other parts of the City also witnessed large gatherings.
Devotees pulled single chariots of the deities at Patiagarh, Siripur, Niladri Vihar, Sailashree Vihar and VSS Nagar.
Children too participated in the festival with their miniature ‘rathas’. The mini chariots were pulled in lanes of the city with the most interesting one being in Old Town. Here, all rituals related to Rath Yatra and Bahuda Yatra performed by Jagannath Rath Yatra Committee were conducted by children.
Around 20 platoons of police force were deployed throughout the city for smooth conduct of the festival.
DCP Nitinjeet Singh said no untoward incident was reported throughout the day.
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