Rath Yatras taken out in several parts of the country

New Delhi, June 27 (UNI) The 'Rathyatra' of Jagannath (Lord Krishna), his brother Balbhadra (Balram) and his sister Subhadra, commemorating the deities' visit to the countryside in summer, was enthusiastically staged in several parts of the country, amidst tight security arrangements.

In Puri, the traditional site of the festival, over a million devotees braved the scorching heat to witness the trip of the 'lord of the universe' for a nine-day sojourn to the Gundhicha temple.

Scores of dancers led the procession followed by cymbal players, buglers and drummers, encouraged the servitors carrying out the strenuous task of pulling the chariots, on which the three presiding deities of the Jagannath Temple were ensconced. Before they began, Puri Sankaracharaya Swami Nishalanda Saraswati had a darshan on the raths and offered prayers.

The chariots began rolling down the Grand Road one after another soon after Puri King Divyasingh Dao came in a decorated palanquin called ''Mehana'' and performed the Chhera Pahanra (cleaning the three chariots with a golden broom) ceremony.

The chariot carrying Devi Subhadra here was pulled exclusively by the women, a tradition which has been observed for over the last three decades.

As a special security arrangement, bomb disposal units, dog squad, snippers, long range movie cameras, besides, closed circuit TVs were deployed in the holy city to face any eventuality during the festival.

The Rath yatra was also observed in hundreds of temple across Orissa. In Baripada, the 415-year-old Rath Yatra, considered to be the second important to the Puri Rath Yatra, was witnessed by hundreds of tribal people from remote rural areas, who attired in their gala dresses, thronged the town to watch the three massive chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Subhadra rolling on the Grand Road.

In Ahmedabad, the chariots bearing the deities rolled out from the century-old Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur area of the city in the early hours to mark the beginning of 129th annual Rath Yatra. 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.

Thousands of devotees, spanning all castes, creeds, status or age groups, thronged the temple. Meanwhile, police had thrown a foolproof security blanket for the event. CCTVs, metal detectors and video cameras had been set up in the temple complex, while teams of specially-trained policemen were closely watching movements and activities of the devotees and visitors inside and outside the temple.

However, in Bhavnagar, organisers halted the yatra, which began from the city's Bhagawaneshwar temple this morning, for an hour when police objected to the wielding of 'lathis' by gymnasts and wrestlers of local wrestling teams.

Later, the yatra proceeded on its course after senior police officials intervened and allowed the organisers to carry on the yatra with 'lathi' show.

In the national capital, thousands of people, chanting praises to the three deities, participated in the Rath Yatras. A large number of people joined a procession from the Jagannath temple at Hauz Khas near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in South Delhi.

A traffic official said hundreds of others also joined a similar procession from Lord Jagannath and Badri Nath temple through the congested Old Delhi. Another procession was scheduled at Prem Nagar near Safdarjang Bus terminus in South Delhi.

In Manipur, thousands of devotees clad in religious attires thronged the Sri Sri Govindajee temple to witness this historic festival and pulled the gigantic Rath with the help of ropes tied to the chariot.

The festival began in Manipur in the first part of the 19th century when the then Manipuri princes in exile witnessed the festival in other parts of India and introduced it in the state.

The state government has declared a public holiday today and tightened security arrangements, so that the festival goes on without any hinderance.

UNI TEAM VD KP1721