PURI: With a day to go for the grand Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his divine siblings, devotees of all age groups from across the country have started arriving in the Pilgrim Town, all eager to see the deities on the chariots after a Covid-19 hiatus of two years.
On Wednesday, people made a beeline to get a glimpse of the Trinity in the Nabajoubana Besha as the deities reappeared in youthful vigour after remaining in the ‘Anasara Ghara’ (sick room) for 14 days.
However, the footfall was not as high as was being expected. The Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) sources said, till 7 pm, around 40,000 devotees had visited to get a glimpse of the Holy Trinity in the Nabajoubana Besha. Temple public relations officer Jitendranarayan Mohanty said, the temple management had expected a crowd of at least 50,000 to 60,000 pilgrims.
They, however, did not attribute the low footfall to the looming fear of coronavirus. This year, it is not mandatory for pilgrims to carry a Covid-19 negative test report or vaccination certificate. Wearing a mask, though, has been mandated by the State government.
“Since we had made prior announcements that a limited window will be assigned for both ticketed darshan and ‘Sahana Mela’ (public darshan) for Nabajoubana Besha, people restricted their visits to those hours only. Majority of crowd in the temple was witnessed during hour-long Sahana Mela which was allowed five times today,” Mohanty said.
Outside the temple, the Maharana, Rupakar and Dario sevayats were busy giving final touches to the three grand chariots - Taladhwaja, Darpadalana and Nandighosha. On the day, while ‘Prabhas’, Kanaka Mundi and canopies were fixed to the chariots, Maharana sevayats prepared brakes for the three rathas. The chariots will be brought in front of the Simhadwara on Thursday and Sarathis (charioteers) and Ghodas (horses) will be fixed on to them.
The hospitality industry, meanwhile, was a disappointed lot because of poor turnout of devotees for Nabajouban Darshan. While hotels and other facilities expected over 3 lakh devotees to throng the town, less than 20 percent attended.
SK Patnaik, a hotel owner, said poor attendance of devotees put him in confusion and hoped the situation will improve on Thursday. Another hotel owner Debendra Das was apprehensive. He felt the situation may not improve much as the government announced to distribute 10 lakh face masks since Covid cases are on the rise. “This message seems to have dampened the spirit of devotees to visit Puri,” Das said.
While hoteliers claimed their properties were all booked, agents were seen approaching tourists on the beach offering rooms at reasonable rates. “Several hotels have jacked up their room rates showing a fake demand. Many small hotels on the beach have floated packages of 5-days which begin at `5,000 for non-AC rooms. This is because their rooms remained unsold,“ said Dhiren Pal, a tourist from West Bengal.
Hotels on the Grand Road, however, hiked their tariff by three times to offer roof-top viewing of the Rath Yatra to devotees. Sources in the Hotels Association of Puri said all ashrams, lodges and hotels on the 3-km stretch of Grand Road have made provisions for roof-top viewing of the Gundicha Yatra and each seat has been sold in the Rs 2,500-Rs 5,000 range.
Local vendors, rickshaw and autorickshaw operators said, the enthusiasm of devotees about Rath Yatra is missing so far. “Pre-Covid, Puri would be teeming with people ahead of Rath Yatra and business was good. But the crowd you are seeing today is what you get to see every day. We hope the footfall increases tomorrow. We are keeping our fingers crossed,” said Satya Behera, an autorickshaw driver who plies on the Grand Road.
Earlier on the day, Dattamahapatra, a special set of servitors, took two days to do the facial of the deities called “Banaklaagi”. They decorated the face of the deities which were discoloured following the grand bath ritual during the Snana Purnima. The deities after recovery from the fever and in new dress looked rejuvenated and appeared to the devotees.
At least 40 platoon police personnel were deployed for safe conduct of the ritual. Vir Vikram Yadav, temples’ Chief Administrator, Collector Samarth Verma, IG Narasingh Bhol and SP K Vishal Singh were present.