SALT LAKE

Bidhannagar Sree Chaitanya Bhagabat Samaj, Central Park

This was perhaps the first chariot to roll out in Salt Lake this year — and it is, in fact, the oldest. “We began this tradition 37 years ago,” said Kumar Sankar Sadhu, general secretary of the organising committee, before the chariot started from Central Park last Friday. The accompanying Rath-er Mela had begun two days earlier.

At the inauguration, mayor Krishna Chakraborty noted how the children of those who once pulled this chariot across the township now follow in their parents’ footsteps.

Civic chairman Sabyasachi Dutta encouraged devotees to visit the new Jagannath temple in Digha. “Buses leave from the Karunamoyee depot just next door, so do go and offer your prayers,” he said.

MLA and minister Sujit Bose could not attend as he was, in fact, at the Digha temple on the day, but he sent a letter with his wishes, which Sadhu read out to the audience.

Devotees could hardly wait to pull the chariot. “I’ve been coming here for seven years now,” said Karunamoyee resident Neeta Banik. “I don’t have an umbrella, but I don’t care if it rains.” Rupali Goldar had come from Gouranganagar with her eight-year-old son, and both pulled the chariot barefoot. “I can’t pull the Lord’s chariot with shoes on,” she said.

Barnali Dutta of IA Block had bunked college for the event. “With Jagannath’s blessings, I won’t catch a cold in the rain and will be back in class tomorrow,” she smiled, flashing a pair of earrings she had bought at last year’s Rath-er Mela.

As the chariot rolled under the Metro viaduct, many commuters came out of their vehicles that were caught in the traffic jam, pulled the ropes briefly, and hopped back in.

The only ones who did not rush to touch the chariot were those seated under temporary sheds on the footpath — the protesting government school teachers. “We are not pulling the rath as there is no joy in our lives. We pray to Jagannath to give us back our jobs,” said Swarnali Basu, who used to teach in a Sonarpur school.

Utkala Banga

The deities being worshipped at BL Block

While most juggernauts rolled along Sector I, there was a chariot for residents of Sector II and III.

“Our idol stays in CK 271 with the families of Sandip and Pawan Sharma round the year and mashir bari is BL 182,” said Arup Kumar Bhunia, president of Utkala Banga Rathayatra Utsav Committee, who also lives in the BL Block house. His father Manindranath Bhunia had taken the initiative to start the puja 10 years ago.

The procession began from CK Block and travelled around Tank 9, Karunamoyee, the municipal school in FE Block, Tank 10, DL Block, and CK Market before reaching BL. “Most of the raths in Salt Lake move around Sector I, so for Ultarath we take a different route to enable as many residents to come and tug at the rope as possible,” added secretary Ram Chandra Kar. The return route will cover BL, AL, AK, BJ, and finally reach CK Block.

Utkala Banga comprises 70 members living in Salt Lake, Kestopur, Mahisbathan and nearby areas, but most of them have one thing in common: Midnapore.

“We hail either from east or west Midnapore or neighbouring state Odisha, and so Rathyatra has been an inseparable part of our childhood. We have grown up pulling chariots, but due to work, are unable to return home for the festival now. So we started a Rath of our own,” said Anup Bhunia.

On a trip to Puri’s Jagannath temple, member Swarup Bhunia was given a cryptic message by a priest. “He said Jagannath tomar pechhon pechhon jabe.” That was the impetus I needed. Soon, we started this celebration among friends,” says the BL Block resident.

Many neighbours join the festivities. “On the day of Rath, some 1,500 people come for bhog. Our pandal is near the BK Block Sri Aurobindo Institute of Education, but queues reached Tank 8,” smiled treasurer Swapan Das. “All are welcome even on Ultarath.”

Shri Jagannath Utsav Samiti

This was a grand Rathyatra procession, with three separate chariots for the divine siblings and multiple trolleys with performers stretched across several kilometres. The Shri Jagannath Utsav Samiti chariots rolled from Tank 2.

Some trolleys carried singers performing devotional songs on the move, while others featured dancers enacting Radha-Krishna stories. Vans distributed saplings, and those seated on the chariots handed out prasad to devotees.

Ananya Chakraborty comes to pull the rath every year. “But this time I have bought two packs of toffees, offered them to the Lord, and am handing them out to everyone,” said the BC Block resident.

People hopped over puddles of rainwater to keep up with the chariot. Roads were jammed, and from verandahs of houses, residents joined folded their hands in prayer. “I’ve been waiting since 1pm,” said Suhrid Chowdhury at 4.30pm, when a chariot finally crossed his path around PNB Island. The 76-year-old had come from BA Block using a walking stick. “I never miss it. Once the rush settles, I’ll even visit the new temple in Digha.”

In the crowd was Naresh Kumar Gupta, impossible to miss in his all-yellow attire. He cycled alongside the rath, with slogans on greening pasted on his cap, clothes and bike. “I cycle to every festive gathering carrying my messages,” said the Maniktala resident.

Shweta Dutta Gupta came despite being pregnant. “I am coming to this rath since childhood. My delivery is in August, so I have come for Jagannath’s blessings,” said the AE Block resident. Her husband Kumardeep Banerjee stood protectively by her side.

Even Cookie, a golden retriever, and Stanley, a pomeranian, had come out of their AC Block house to watch the chariots pass. “We aren’t taking them closer as some people are scared of dogs,” said their pet parent, Anurag Chakrabarti.

There were multiple aarti sthals along the route where the procession halted for refreshments.

This year, the mashir bari is not the CB Block house next to Tank 2. “There has been a bereavement in the family, so the deities are staying at CB community hall this year,” said Sanjay Poddar, a volunteer. “All are welcome here.”

Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra

Children and the elderly pull the chariot around DD Block

This rath was drawn by many elderly members of Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra and children of the school run by the centre.

Six-year-old twins Ayansh and Advik Shaw looked sweet in Hulk T-shirts as they pulled from the front. “We’re praying to Jagannath for chocolates,” grinned Ayansh, a student of the school.

Shivani Kumar had brought her six-month-old daughter, Laado. “It’s the first time pulling the rath for both mother and daughter,” laughed the resident of CK Block. “I had always heard about this festival but never got the chance before. Now that I have a child, I knew I had to come for her sake.”

Anamika Patra, originally from Lucknow, married into a family in CD Block a few years ago. “Rathyatra is celebrated in Lucknow too, but this is much grander. I love how every part of our country has its own festivals,” she said.

The Kendra has just stepped into its 50th year, and its Rathyatra tradition began 25 years ago. “Initially, the chariot moved only within our driveway. Then we got a bigger one and started taking it out to the streets. Now everyone considers it their own,” said Chanchal De, the secretary.

To mark their golden jubilee, the centre also unveiled a new fibreglass mural of the Dashavatara as a frame for the stage on their ground floor. The mural was inaugurated by deputy mayor Anita Mondal on the day of Rathyatra.

Similar panels on the first floor were inaugurated by mayorKrishna Chakraborty. They feature iconic moments from the lives of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, and the Kendra itself — including the foundation stone laying of the DD Block building in 1980, the commencement of construction in 1989, and the 2007 installation of theRamakrishna statue on its first floor.

“The murals have been sculpted by Nirjan Dey of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Sargachhi, Murshidabad. In 2023, the same sculptor created a statue of Sister Nivedita, which we installed in Wimbledon, near the school she had founded before meeting Swami Vivekananda,” said De. “The statue was sponsored by our Salt Lake centre.”

NEW TOWN

IA Market

The rath leaves IA Market

When the shopkeepers of IA Market began celebrating Rathyatra seven years ago, they would have to request one another to sponsor the bhog on a certain day of the weeklong festival. “But now we get over-subscribed,” smiled secretary of the market committee Rishiraj Ghosh. “This year we had to ask the extra sponsors to collectively contribute on the final day.”This year, both vendors and customers joined the procession. “There aren’t any other raths in Sector III that we know of and customers start enquiring about our timings days in advance. In fact, this is why we try to take lanes instead of main roads for our journey. That way, residents who otherwise would not have access to a rath easily can come and pull ours,” said Ghosh.

Many residents request the procession to halt at their door for a minute or two, so they can perform their own puja for Jagannath.

The chariot took off from the temple inside IA Market, and councillor Minu Das Chakraborty swept the floor till it left the gate.

BE Block

The deities in BE Block

The chariot from BE 94 rolled to Baisakhi, BF Block swimming pool, BSNL office, Ramakrishna Island, Tank 4 Island and back, “but at the gate of BE 94, we turned the chariot such that the its mouth faced outwards while entering,” said Vishal Bhuwania, under whose house the puja takes place. “The whole year, the deity stays at this address, on the floor above, and the open-air ground floor is the mashir bari, so we had to make a distinction.”

Over 500 people dropped by daily to pray, partake in prasad, and watch the devotional shows performed by guest artistes every evening.

“Our whole family is devoted to lord Jagannath,” said Ashok Bhuwania, whose brother, Pawan Kumar Bhuwania started the festival at home in 2014. “I live in Bangalore, but come down with the entire family of 20 people every year for this”.

The puja strictly adheres to the rituals of Puri’s Jagannath temple. “Besides dates and timings, we are also particular about bhog,” added Amitava Sinha, a neighbour who is helping out. “Vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beans and tomatoes, for instance, are not served there, so we are replacing them with sweet potato, akrol, pumpkin and the like.

CB Block temple

The chariot in CB Block, New Town

Where: On a Hidco-owned corner plot adjacent to CB 192, Street 195, New Town

In the eighth year of rathyatra, the chariot trundled down a road that residents themselves had concreted before the festival in 2024.

“When the temple was set up with bamboo fencing, it was initially dismantled by the authorities as the plot is government-owned. The first five years, the chariot festival was held under the aegis of the CA to CD Block Association. The association disintegrated after that. We were informally allowed to continue here by the authorities when we agreed not to build any permanent structure. Only the temple’s base is cemented, the roof is still a tin shed,” said Biman Dutta, 75. The idols, carved out of neem wood, came from Odisha.

On the day of the festival, 32 women devotees, dressed in identical white saris with motifs on red borders, danced in front of the chariot. “We placed the order online after sharing the available designs in our WhatsApp group for a vote. We had a dress code even for Diwali and Dol,” said Shukla Majumdar of CB Block as Mitali Puitandi and Piu Bakshi nodded in agreement.

Khichudi-bhog prasad was distributed among all visitors.

Shukhobrishti Cluster A temple

The chariot at Shukhobrishti in Action Area III

In its 10th year, the chariot inside Shukhobristi housing complex was pulled to a pandal that was inspired by the gopuram of the Rameswaram temple. The deities were ceremoniously removed from the temple near Cluster A and placed on the chariot.

“This chariot has been in service since 2018. Earlier, we had a smaller chariot. In fact, next year we are thinking of getting three chariots for the deities to be separately placed,” said Kshyamadri Moharana, an organiser.

The authorities waited till news came of the start of the rathyatra at the Jagannath dham in Puri, and then the drumbeats and the cymbal started beating.

Ashok Shaw, a resident since 2014, took on the role of Gajapati king wearing a turban and holding a sheathed sword. He swept the floor along the deity’s path with a peacock-feather broom, as he has done since the inaugural year of the festival.

It was past 5pm when the chariot started rolling, pulled by Shukhobrishti residents for a tour of the campus.

“I have been waiting since 3pm. I would visit Puri with my kirtan teammates but I fell ill in the crowd and the rain last year,” said Gitarani Pal, adding that she was experiencing the same joy by taking part in the rathyatra at her son’s apartment complex.

As Lord Jagannath was carried in, seven-year-old Adrita touched her joined palms to her forehead in reverence. “May He improve my Hindi scores,” the DPS Megcity student said.

“We had thought of visiting the new temple in Digha but stayed back to avoid the crowd. We have bought coupons which will allow us to partake of prasad here daily,” said Sougata Dutta, whose four-year-old son touched the chariot’s rope for the first time.

The rath reached the pandal after 8.30pm and is parked on the ground between J21 and J22 buildings, where cultural programmes and a fair are taking place for nine days since then.