Jagannath Yatra begins amid tight security

Ahmedabad, June 27: Amid ear-deafening shouting of slogans by devotees, three chariots of Lord Jagannath (Krishna), his elder brother Lord Balaram (Balbhadra) and their sister Shubhadra rolled out to mark the beginning of 129th annual Rath Yatra from the century old Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur area of the city in the wee hours of today.

The three chariots were set rolling by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after performing a traditional ritual of 'Pahind' by sweeping the path with a golden broom, thus paving the way for the yatra, in which the Lord Jagannath proceeds for his summer vacation from his palace to countryside as per the Hindu belief that on this auspicious day of Ashad Shud 2, the God had left his palace in Puri in Orissa.

Earlier in the wee hours, Mr Modi and his cabinet colleagues performed morning 'pooja' and took blessings from Mahant Rameshwardasji Maharaj, Chief Priest of the Temple.

Thousands of devotees bridging the gap of cast, creed, status or age groups thronged the temple with all religious fervor and gaiety.

The rath yatra also has other attractions like 16 decorative elephants, 18 bhajan mandalis (groups), nearly 100 decorated trucks and 30 teams of gymnasts performing various feats. Besides over 2,000 saints and sadhus and thousands of devotees from all over the country have converged here.

According to the Hindu mythology, Lord Jagannath (Krishna), along with his elder brother Lord Balaram (Balabhadra) and sister Subhadra, goes on summer vacation, travelling on grand raths (chariots) from his temple in Puri, the coastal town of Orissa in eastern India, to his garden palace in the countryside. The 'rath yatra' has given birth to one of the biggest religious festivals of Hindus in India.

Meanwhile, in the wake of rising terrorist threats across India and the recent RDX bomb blast at Kalupur railway station in city, police have thrown a foolproof security blanket for this annual rath yatra.

The entire procession is being monitored by City Police Commissioner K R Kaushik from a special control room at the Police Headquarters here.

According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Branch) C R Parmar, the entire Jagannath Temple complex has been given a castle-like security with the setting up of close circuit televisions (CCT), metal detectors and video camera.

He said six teams of specially-trained policemen are closely watching movements and activities of the devotees and visitors inside and outside the temple on CCTVs.

Besides electronic and hi-tech devices, a thick security blanket has been thrown around the temple complex and along the entire route of 25 km for the peaceful conduct of the entire religious procession, he said, adding that nearly 20,000 strong contingent of security forces have been deployed.

The procession is being guarded by three IGPs, three Dy IGPs, 27 Superintendents, 51 Assistant Police Commissioners, 143 Inspectors, 520 Sub-Inspectors, nearly 10,000 police constables of city police and horse-mounted policemen. Beside these, 67 companies of SRPF, CRPF and BSF, along with 3,500 jawans of Home Guards, have been pressed into service, the ACP said.

The entire security force has been divided into two main categories 'mobile and static', while the entire route of 25 km has been divided into 27 ranges for the smooth conduct of the procession. The mobile contingent are moving along with the procession only to look after the security of the procession. While the 'static' contingent is to be stand guard at their positions, Mr Parmar added.

The security has also been beefed up in other areas of the city as well under the direct supervision of two officers of the ranks of Deputy Commissioner of Police, the ACP said. A special drill of nabbing anti-social elements, particularly bootleggers, have been launched since the last one month. Check posts have been set up at all the entry/exit points of the city, he added.

Mr Modi, along with many of his cabinet colleagues and other political and social leaders, pulled the three chariots till the entrance of the temple.

The religious ceremonies began at 0400 hrs with 'mangla aarti' performed by the temple's chief priest along with many followers and thousands of devotees. It was followed by the installation of Lord Krishna, Lord Balarama and sister Shubhadra idols in three specially decorated chariots.

The three chariots are being pulled all along the route by over 1,200 youths of Khalasi community as per the tradition of the Temple.

The procession began at 0700 hrs from the Jagannath Temple and will tour to Jamalpur, Khamasha, Raipur, Khadia, Kalupur, Saraspur, Prem Darwaja, Delhi Chakla, Shahpur Darwaja, R C High School, Pankore Naka and Manek Chok areas of the walled city, before culminating at the same spot after safe return entry of three chariots in the temple late in the evening.

During the entire procession, the devotees will distribute over 20,000 kg of the 'prasad' made of cereal and fruits.

Though the 'rath yatra' is celebrated by the Hindus, the people of the minority community also participate in it by offering foods, drinks and sharing prasad, as a gesture of communal harmony and brotherhood between communities.

The minority community leaders have also asked their people to observe restraint when the procession would pass through their localities to maintain communal peace and not to cause law and order problem in the city.

UNI