The model of the rath. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

Jamshedpur, June 25: The juggernaut rolls for the chief minister. After celebrating hundred days in office by unveiling a slew of sops to revive ailing industrial units, Arjun Munda has now decided to play the benefactor to the erstwhile princely state of Kharsawan.

With what once used to be an elaborate Rath festival in Kharsawan losing its sheen gradually, Munda has taken it upon himself to help bring back the glory days.

In the rescue act will be Arjun’s chariot as it rolls on the streets of Kharsawan on July 1 for ferrying the ailing Lord Jagannath to his mashi (maternal aunt)’s house for a grand recovery. With the Lord himself aboard, the Master has left no stone unturned to make the occasion a memorable one.

For starters, the rickety, the old and the simple have been done away with for the grand, Rs 10-lakh, government-sponsored chariot. The dimensions are impressive: it’s a 19-foot-high, 12-foot-broad and 17-foot-long virtual palace-on-wheels weighing about 18 tonnes.

“It has been made by craftsmen from West Bengal. We, numbering about 43, have been toiling for the past 23 days, 24 hours a day to give shape to the chief minister’s dream. Only Saal, Segun and Bhola wood have been used for making the chariot. Three truckloads of wood, all procured from West Bengal, have been used for it,” said master craftsman A.P. Mishra.

Two giant horses leap out from the front of the triple-storied chariot as small idols adorn various places on it. Coloured in pink, green, red and white, places have been earmarked for Lord Jagannath himself on it, too.

“A giant rope will be tied on the front of the chariot and the chief minister, along with others, would pull it from the Jagannath temple to his mashi’s house. Two days later, the ropes would be tied to the rear of the chariot as it goes on a reverse journey to the temple,” Mishra said.

“The Rath festival in Kharsawan or Seraikela is a reflection of what happens in Puri. All rituals are similar to the ones followed there. Lord Jagannath, after recovering from his illness on that day, takes a journey to his aunt’s home. After two days, he makes a return journey. In Seraikela, the king himself sweeps the way that he travels with a broom,” said Biswanath Rath, secretary-general of the Seraikela Bar Association and a member of the rath committee there.

“In Seraikela, we have somehow managed to keep the spirit of the festivity alive with contributions from like-minded people. But from what I gather, Kharsawan has been facing a trying time. It is really good that the chief minister has come to the rescue of the festivities there,'' Rath said, wishing that Seraikela had been fortunate enough.