Devotees pull the Iskcon rath at Buddha Marg in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, June 3: Devotees poured on to the streets of the city today to catch a glimpse of the chariot of the Lord. While some chanted Hare Rama, Hare Krishna and Jai Jagannath, Jai Balaram and Jai Subhadra, others pulled the ropes of the rath (chariot).

International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), Patna, had organised Rath Yatra Mahotsav. The chariot with the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra began its journey from the Iskcon centre at Buddha Marg and returned to the same spot after travelling through New Dakbungalow Road and Frazer Road. Iskcon members on the rath distributed prasad of peanuts and misri (sugar crystals) among the devotees on the road.

“I am very lucky to catch a glimpse of the rath. Though I could not pull the rope, but being able to see the chariot is a very holy experience,” said Ramesh Sharma, a commuter.

He had joined the jostling crowds to get a packet of the prasad. On being asked why he left his two-wheeler and joined the crowd, he said: “I wanted the prasad being thrown from the rath to the devotees. People push and pull each other to get it.”

Bhola Prasad, a devotee, accompanied the chariot on its journey and danced to kirtans. The 76-year-old retired chief engineer of the road construction department said: “For many years my wife and I have come to this Rath Yatra. This is very special for us as we are devotees of Krishna.”

On being asked if the crowd was a discouragement, he said: “We love being a part of the crowd and singing kirtans with the other devotees. It is good to see people being devotional when there are so many distractions.”

Krishna Kripa Das, chairperson, Iskcon, Patna said: “Rath Yatra is being celebrated for the past 5,000 years. It began when Krishna started for Kuruskshetra with his brother Balaram and sister Shubhadra. Later Chaitanya Mahaprabhu joined the Rath Yatra and made the devotion for Krishna more intense.”