Religious fervour marked the pulling of colourfully decorated chariots as part of the annual rath yatra also known as car festival by various organisations in the city on Sunday.
Being a holiday, people in large numbers pulled the chariot at the ceremonial procession of Lord Jagannath, His Brother Lord Balabhadra and Sister Devi Subhadra. They go on an annual sojourn to their aunt’s place known as Gundicha Ghar. The return rath yatra named Bahuda will be organised on the ninth day after end of the sojourn during which Lord Jagannath will don several avatars.
The deities were brought out from the main temples and pulled in the streets to enable people to have a darshan. Chanting Haribol and Jai Jagannath, they enthusiastic crowds danced to the accompaniment of the beat of the cymbals and drums. The surging crowds pulled the wooden chariot draped in multi-coloured cloth amid tight security. The climate remained cloudy with occasional showers.
‘Chera pahara’
‘Chera pahara’, a ceremonial ritual of sweeping the floor with a broom was performed by Lal Saheb Pramod Bhanja Deb belonging to the erstwhile Daspalla royal family at the rath yatra organised by Utkal Sanskrutika Samaj. The same ritual was also performed at other places in the city before the commencement of the nine-day festival to convey the message that all are equal before the almighty whether one is a king or an aam aadmi.
“For Odias as well as others who believe in Jagannath culture, rath yatra is a very big festival and everyone loves to wait for participating in the festival with pomp and gaiety,” Utkal Sanskrutika Samaj president J.K. Nayak and secretary P.K. Biswal said.
The people of Old Town thronged the rath yatra celebrations by the Jagannadha Swamy Temple near Town Kotha Road.
The chariot was taken to the Turner’s Choultry by the enthusiastic crowds.
The ‘Chera pahara’ ritual was performed by Visakha South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar and Visakha West MLA P.G.V.R. Naidu in the presence of Endowment Deputy Commissioner N.V.S.N. Murthy, Executive Officer Bandaru Prasad and festival officer B. Prasad Rao Patnaik.
Air of festivity
An air of festivity pervaded at Ukkunagaram, the township of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant as it was reverberated with the chanting of Jai Jagannath. CMD P. Madhusudan, his wife Gowri Annapurna, offered special prayers.
Sporting traditional costumes, Mr. Madhusudan performed ‘Chera pahara’ with a golden broom. Music from mridang, cymbals and conches brought festival atmosphere at Ukkunagaram. RINL Directors P.C. Mohapatra, D.N. Rao, P. Raychaudhury, K.C. Das and others offered prayers.
The evening was vibrant with colourful cultural programmes, Sambalpuri folk dance and Odissi dance.
Sri Chaitanya Math members took out the chariot amid dances by cultural troupes all along beach road from the Zilla Parishad junction.
International Society for Krishna Consciousness took out the yatra in a collapsible canopy from VUDA Park to YMCA, RK Beach and Viswapriya Function Hall amid bhajans, kirtans, nadaswaram and kolatam and distribution of prasadam to the devotees.
