The holy town of Puri was immersed in religious fervour as the Bahuda Yatra (return journey) of Lord Jagannath and his siblings passed off peacefully on Saturday, with lakhs of devotees pulling their chariots.
On Rath Yatra day, June 27, nearly 600 people had sustained injuries while pulling the chariots. Another tragedy struck the yatra on June 29 when three people died in a stampede near the Shree Gundicha Temple in Puri. These two incidents had placed the Mohan Charan Majhi government in an embarrassing position.
For the Bahuda Yatra, the state government had taken adequate measures, including assigning experienced police officers to oversee security. Steps were also taken to streamline traffic. Police even sent bulk messages to the mobile phones of devotees headed to Puri for the return journey.
On Saturday, the servitors carried out their duties flawlessly. One after another, all three chariots arrived in front of the Shree Jagannath Temple. The chariots began to roll after the scion of the Puri royal family, Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb, performed the chera panhara (ceremonial sweeping of the chariot decks) with a golden broom. A sea of humanity followed the procession till the chariots reached the main shrine.
The three decorated chariots — Nandighosh of Lord Jagannath, Taladhwaja of Lord Balabhadra (elder brother), and Darpadalan of Goddess Subhadra (younger sister) — reached the 12th-century Shree Jagannath Temple after travelling about 2.5km from the Shree Gundicha Temple. The state government had earlier faced severe criticism on Rath Yatra day as
Nandighosh had moved only 15 metres and the other two chariots were left midway, failing to reach the Gundicha Temple.
The deities will be adorned with gold ornaments during the Suna Vesha ritual on Sunday and enter the temple in the Niladri Vije ritual on July 8, marking the conclusion of this year’s Rath Yatra festival. With the end of Bahuda Yatra, controversies
surrounding Puri servitors’ participation in the inaugural function of Digha’s Jagannath Temple have also subsided.
