PURI/BHUBANESWAR: Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath reached their destination Shree Gundicha temple on Saturday with lakhs of devotees pulling all the three chariots and completing the process by early afternoon.
All the three deities had to be halted on the Badadanda (Grand Road) on Friday after the chariot of Lord Balabhadra deviated from the path and blocked the movement of two others. The Nandighosa Rath of Lord Jagannath moved a few metres from Singhadwara of Shree Jagannath temple after which the chariot pulling was stalled for the night.
Pulling of the three chariots resumed at around 9.35 am in the morning after the rituals were over. Three sets of priests simultaneously performed the daily chores of the deities on their chariots, beginning with Mangal Arati, Mailum, Tadap Lagi, Abakash, and offered bhog. They dressed the deities in new clothes.
The Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra was pulled first, clearing the way for movement of Darpadalan Rath of Devi Subhadra and Nandighosa of Lord Jagannath. Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja and DGP YB Khurania participated in the pulling of chariots along with devotees, officials and police personnel.
All three chariots reached the Gundicha temple at 1.20 pm. The deities will be taken inside the Gundicha temple on Sunday in a ceremonial procession as per rituals.
As the chariot pulling on the second day concluded smoothly, Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan lashed out at the politics playing out on the issue.
“This is not the first time that chariot pulling during Rath Yatra has been delayed. It has been the same for decades together. Since 1977, all the chariots have not reached Gundicha temple on the first day. In most of these years, the yatra of the deities was completed on the second day,” he said.
Attributing the delay in chariot pulling to the huge turnout of devotees which led to massive overcrowding, Harichandan accused the Opposition parties of indulging in cheap politics on the issue of the “leela of Lord Jagannath”. “Those who are indulging in politics will have to face the consequences sooner or later,” he added.
Temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee said, “Today, all the chariots have reached Gundicha temple. Tomorrow (Sunday), Adapa Mandap pahandi will be done and all the preparations are in place. The timing of Adapa Mandap pahandi will be decided as per the nitis atop the chariots,” he said.
Padhee added that in the past years too, chariots had not reached Gundicha temple on the day of Rath Yatra and were pulled the next day. “Our focus is always on completion of rituals on time and as far as this is concerned, there has been no lapse on the part of the temple administration,” he said.