Rath Yatra Celebrated Without Devotees at Puri

BY: SUN STAFF CORRESPONDENT - 16.7 2021

The 3-km Grand Road, facing the Jagannath Temple in Puri, immersed in religious fervour as the sibling gods Jagannath, Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra set off their annual vacation to their birthplace at Gundicha Temple on Monday, marking Rath Yatra.

Like last year, the annual festival lost its grandeur following a ban on the participation of devotees in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The district administration imposed a curfew across Puri town to prevent the gathering of devotees and evacuated tourists from the hotels in the run-up to the Yatra. Only the servitors, whose RT-PCR reports came negative, were allowed to perform the rituals and pull the chariots.

The spacious Grand Road, which used to see a sea of devotees jostling for space for darshan of the chariot-laden Deities, saw only a few thousands of people, including servitors, police personnel and officials of the district and temple administrations.

This year's high point of Rath Yatra was the timely completion of the rituals. Following a recent appeal by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the servitors conducted the rituals at least 3 hours before the schedule. In a written appreciation message, Naveen was all praises for the servitors, police, temple and district officials for the peaceful and smooth conduct of Rath Yatra in compliance of the Covid-safety protocols. "I also thank the people of Puri for their cooperation, restraint and self-discipline. This will set an inspiration," Naveen's message said.

Devotees were disappointed, being deprived of the Deities' darshan. "We can realise the unprecedented situation caused by the pandemic for the last one year. Still, we are in pain. Though we could watch the festival live on the TV screens, watching the Deities by taking part in Rath Yatra is always a bliss," Sanghamitra Mahapatra, a Puri local said.

Neither a blazing sun nor the Covid fear could stop the servitors from pulling the chariots with great elan. The chariots of Balabhadra, Subhadra and Jagannath started at 12.05 pm, 1.05 pm and 1.50 pm. The three chariots reached Gundicha temple by 5.35 pm. Devotees will not be allowed to go near the chariots nor enter Gundicha temple till the Deities stay there till July 19. The sibling Deities will return on the occasion of Bahuda Yatra on July 20.

"There were no reports of any violation of the curfew during the festival. It was peaceful and incident-free," Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh said.