BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday watched the live telecast of Rath Yatra at Puri and paid obeisance to Lord Jagannath from his office at the Lok Seva Bhawan here.It was for the first time in known history that the Rath Yatra was conducted with the devotees missing after the Supreme Court allowed conduct of the festival by banning any congregation in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There were no performers on the Grand Road. The Lords embarked on their annual sojourn with servitors pulling the chariots amid the curfew imposed in the Pilgrim town. Governor of Odisha Ganeshi Lal congratulated servitors and the administration for smooth conduct of the festival.When the deities reached Gundicha temple in the evening, the Chief Minister expressed his happiness over timely completion of chariot pulling. He thanked the sevayats, temple administration, district administration and the police for ensuring smooth conduct of the festival despite the restrictions. He also praised people of Puri who cooperated with the administration in implementation of the Supreme Court directive and Covid-19 guidelines.
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also expressed happiness and said devotees in the entire world are happy because Rath Yatra has been held at Puri successfully.Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said the unique Rath Yatra was conducted by the State and Puri administration by adhering to the Supreme Court guidelines. “This was Chief Minister’s instruction”, he said and added that ‘Team Odisha’ will strive to carry out the same till the end of festival.
Tripathy said approximately 2000 sevayats were tested for Covid-19 and only those who were found negative were selected. Those who pulled the chariots wore masks.Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister released a special Rath Yatra issues of ‘Utkal Prasanga’ and Odisha Review’ at the Lok Seva Bhavan.