After 53 Years it is Two Day Ratha Jatra

Puri (Surjit Kumar Dhal): Puri, one of the most revered four Dhams of Hinduism is celebrating a two-day Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath this year after a gap of 53 years. Around 10 to 15 lakh devotees are expected to witness this grand annual event in Puri. President Droupadi Murmu will also be present in Puri on Sunday to witness the Rath Yatra on Sunday. The state government has made special arrangements for her visit.

Rath Yatra was last held for two days in 1971. Because of this rare conjunction, rituals of two days related to the festival will be held on a single day on Sunday. This year, the Rath Yatra, and related rituals like ‘Nabajouban Darshan’ and ‘Netra Utsav’ will be conducted in a single day on Sunday. The three chariots are now at the Singhadaara of the Jagannath temple. They will be dragged by devotees to Gundicha temple for a week long sojourn of the deities.

The chariots will be pulled by devotees on Sunday afternoon. It will stop at evening. They will be again pulled on Monday to reach the Gundicha temple. Around 180 platoons (one platoon comprises 30 personnel) of security personnel of both the state and central governments have been deployed to monitor the law and order and crowd management during the festival. Artificial Intelligence-based CCTV cameras have been installed at Badadanda, the venue of the festival, and other strategic locations in the pilgrim town.