PURI: After a gap of two-long years, devotees from across the country and the world are set to have their date with the Lord of the Universe Lord Jagannath, elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra as the annual Rath Yatra at Puri will be held with full public participation on Friday.
With the dark clouds of the pandemic removed, the Holy Trinity will again descend from the sanctum sanctorum of Srimandir to become one with the common people, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and colour. The pilgrim city is already buzzing with excitement as thousands have begun to congregate for having darshan of their beloved deities and seeking their blessings.
The administration is expecting the gathering to be higher than ever and even touching a million during the Rath Yatra, when the Trinity, accompanied by Sudarshan, Madanmohan and Ramakrishna will embark on a nine-day sojourn to Gundicha temple riding three separate chariots along the 3-km long Bada Danda.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who returned after his foreign tour late on Thursday, will be in Puri to take part in the festival.
The regular nitees of the Trinity like Mangal arati, Mailum, Tadap lagi, Abakash, Surya Pooja, Dwarpal Puja and Rosahoma are scheduled to start early in the morning and be completed by 7 am on Friday.
Trinity set to meet devotees after 2 years
After the deities are offered Sakal Dhupa, Mangalarpan will be held by Daita servitors who will begin the Pahandi procession of the Lords to their respective chariots by 8 am. Pahandi is expected to be completed by 11.30 am.
The servitors will then fix Kanak mundi to each chariot and place Hanuman on it after the temple purohit conducts rituals to consecrate the three chariots. A special set of servitors will fix ladders to each chariot to facilitate Pahandi of deities.
As soon as Pahandi gets over, Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb will perform Chherapahanra service by 2.30 pm which will be followed by pulling of chariots by 4 pm. The administration is hopeful of conducting the event as per schedule.
A total of 180 platoons of police besides 1,000 experienced officers, rapid action force, and quick response teams are deployed for the safe and smooth conduct of the fete. Over 50 CCTV cameras have been installed along the Bada Danda to monitor the crowd movement from the integrated control room.
A comprehensive traffic mobility plan is also in place. An ambulance corridor has been created and about 500 life guards deployed along the Puri beach for rescue operations if needed. The railways has also deployed a good number of RPF and GRP personnel besides setting up tented accommodation for 15,000 pilgrims in the rail station complex. Apart from regular trains, 200 special DMUs will ply to Puri from different locations on the day.
The Health department has beefed up its bed capacity to 200 with sun stroke treatment cabins. Around 220 doctors and paramedical staff have been deputed for the festival. As per Srimandir public relations officer J Mohanty, the attendance of devotees on Wednesday was about 40,000 while on Thursday it remained within 10,000. “The nitee and rituals are running as per schedule and we hope the same happens on Friday as well . All arrangements are in place for smooth conduct of the festival,” he said.