PURI: The pulling of the three chariots of the Holy Trinity, which had been halted on Thursday, resumed on Friday morning around 9.30 am.
None of the three chariots had reached the Gundicha temple on Thursday due to delay in Pahandi ritual. While the chariots of Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra had been stopped midway, Lord Jagannath had halted just a few metres from the temple. Lakhs of devotees remained in the town, keeping watch over the deities on their chariots, through the night. Favourable weather conditions through the day allowed the chariot-pulling to proceed without incident even as the stream of devotees continued to pour into the town.
The day began with the customary rituals performed by servitors, including Mangal Arati, Mailum, Tadap Laagi, Abakasha and Surya Puja, followed by the offering of Gopal Bhog. The deities were then dressed in new attire.
The Taladhwaja chariot bearing Lord Balabhadra reached the Gundicha temple at 12.30 pm, followed by the Darpadalan chariot of Devi Subhadra at 12.50 pm. Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosh chariot arrived at around 2.30 pm.
The deities are scheduled to remain on their respective chariots overnight before being taken into the temple through Pahandi on Saturday afternoon. The district administration said updates on the rituals would be made available to devotees through digital screens installed across the town.
Meanwhile, the 60-year-old man, who had died after being caught in a crowd surge during Rath Yatra on Thursday, is yet to be identified. The post-mortem has been completed and the body kept in the morgue, police sources said.
At the same time, questions have been raised over the absence of Lord Jagannath’s Tiara during Thursday’s Pahandi ritual. Many devotees alleged that the temple administration and Daita servitors broke the tradition for the sake of convenience.
President of the Daita Nijog Ramakrishna Dasmahapatra said the Shola component of the tiara fell apart after being exposed to rain. “By the time Lord Jagannath’s Pahandi reached the Lion’s Gate, nothing remained except its skeletal frame. The Daita servitors conducting the procession, therefore, decided to remove the damaged remains,” Dasmahapatra told mediapersons.
However, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief administrator Arabinda Padhee offered a different explanation. He said tiara had become excessively heavy after soaking in rainwater, making it difficult for the servitors to carry out the Pahandi. “The servitors removed it to facilitate the procession,” he said.
The devotees though expressed their resentment. Manoj Das, an octogenarian devotee who has been witnessing the Rath Yatra for decades, described the incident as without precedent. “I have never witnessed such an incident in over five decades of attending the Rath Yatra,” he said.
Many pilgrims were also critical of the crowd management stating that evacuation plans were not in place despite such a huge turnout of the devotees.
