Puri, Jul 24 (PTI): Lakhs of devotees on Friday witnessed the ‘Bahuda Yatra’, the return car festival of Lord Jagannath and sibling deities, as the three majestic wooden chariots reached the Lion’s Gate of the 12th-century shrine after covering a distance of 2.6 km from the Shree Gundicha Temple.
The chariot-pulling began at 4.30 pm with Lord Balabhadra’s ‘Taladhwaj’, which was the first to reach the destination, followed by Goddess Subhadra’s ‘Darpadalan’. Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’ reached the Lion’s Gate at 10.57 pm.
The Bahuda Yatra was, however, marred by the death of a devotee from Cuttack, who allegedly died of suffocation while pulling Goddess Subhadra’s ‘Darpadalan’ chariot.
Earlier, during the Rath Yatra on July 16, two devotees had died in Puri, taking the death toll linked to this year’s festival to three, officials said.
Several others were injured or taken ill due to crowd surge and hot and humid weather conditions.
Though traditionally the chariots are not pulled after sunset, an exception was made this year to facilitate the ‘Suna Besha’ (golden attire) ritual of the deities on the chariots on Ekadashi, to be observed on Saturday.
“There is no major deviation in pulling the chariots after sunset as it is being done to facilitate an important ritual on Saturday. Therefore, it was necessary to bring the chariots to the main temple today,” said scholar Suryanarayan Rathsharma.
Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb said the chariots had been pulled after sunset on earlier occasions as well.
“In ancient times, the chariots were not pulled after sunset due to darkness. But now things have changed, and adequate lighting arrangements are in place,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the chariot-pulling commenced after the ceremonial ‘Pahandi’ procession of the deities from the Gundicha Temple to the chariots and the ‘Chhera Pahanra’ ritual performed by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the titular king of Puri.
The ‘Bahuda Yatra’ marks the return journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra to the Jagannath Temple after their week-long stay at the Gundicha Temple.
Amid chants of “Jai Jagannath” and “Haribol”, lakhs of devotees first pulled Lord Balabhadra’s ‘Taladhwaj’, followed by Goddess Subhadra’s ‘Darpadalan’ and Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’.
During the return journey, the chariots halted near the Ardhasini Temple, where the sibling deities were offered ‘Poda Pitha’ (baked cake), in keeping with tradition.
Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’ resumed its journey after the ‘Laxmi Narayan Bhet’ ritual near the Gajapati Maharaja’s palace, during which Lord Jagannath meets his consort Goddess Lakshmi, who expresses her displeasure at not being taken to the Rath Yatra.
The day’s rituals began with servitors carrying the deities in the traditional ‘Goti Pahandi’ procession from the Gundicha Temple to the chariots. Though scheduled to begin at noon, the ritual commenced at 10.50 am.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik and several other leaders greeted devotees on the occasion.
Heartfelt congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of the sacred ‘Bahuda’ Yatra. May the boundless grace of Lord Jagannath, Mother Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra fill everyone’s lives with happiness, peace, prosperity and joy,” Majhi said in a social media post.
The return car festival is being held under an extensive security blanket in the wake of the crowd surge during the Rath Yatra, which claimed two lives and left several others injured last week.
“We have a multi-layered security arrangement for the festival as the number of devotees rises by the day. Our security and crowd management arrangements remain similar to the bandobast made during the Rath Yatra last week,” ADG Soumendra Priyadarshi said.
More than 13,000 security personnel, including Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, have been deployed across Puri, while over 400 AI-enabled CCTV cameras have been installed for real-time surveillance and crowd monitoring.
“We have taken all possible measures to ensure the festival concludes smoothly,” Director General of Police YB Khurania said. PTI AAM SOM BDC AAM MNB
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
