Puri, June 25: This holy town today turned into a sea of humanity as the presiding deities of the iconic Shree Jagannath temple Lord Jagannath, brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra commenced their chariot journey towards Sri Gundicha, the temple dedicated to their aunt, for a nine-day sojourn.

However, none of the chariots could reach their destination today. The rath yatra, as this fabled ritual has come to be known, began with hundreds of gongs and cymbals beating in unison and the chorus of " jai Jagannath" renting the air time and again.

Every inch of space on the Grand Road, the 3-km road connecting the two temples, was fought for with devotees seeking out vantage points to watch the colourfully decorated chariots of the three deities. For Shashikant Mishra, a bank employee from Rourkela who was in Puri for the rath yatra for the first time, it was a divine experience. "I have seen nothing of the kind in my life. The atmosphere is electric, it is absolutely overwhelming," he said even as his eyes remained fixed on the chariot of Lord Jagannath, the last to roll.

Pahandi (ceremonial procession) of the deities began about an hour late because of a delay in the morning rituals inside the temple. The deities with their tahias (decorative headgears) swaying in the wind were brought out of the sanctum sanctorum one by one and placed on their respective chariots. Lord Jagannath was the last to appear.

The pahandi of the deities was marked by controversy with senior daitapati (servitor), Ramchandra Das Mohapatra, the chief keeper (badagrahi) of the chariot of Devi Subhadra, alleging that some devotees had broken the security cordon and touched the idol of Lord Balabhadra during the ceremonial procession. Chief temple administrator, Pradeep Kumar Jena, however, asserted that all attempts were made to ensure that rules were followed. "But we will examine the CCTV footage and action will be taken in case there has been any violation," he said.

The chief badagrahi of Lord Jagannath's chariot, Jagannath Swain Mohapatra expressed his reservations about the restrictions placed on touching the deities. He said that Lord Jagannath loves to embrace and be embraced by his devotees. Daityapati Niyog president, Ramkrushna Das Mohapatra took a similar stand and said the restrictions placed on devotees would be challenged in high court. The views of these two senior daitapatis, however, runs contrary to the views of Puri king Gajapati Divyasingh Deo who is against devotees touching the deities.

The controversy, however, failed to dampen the spirits of over five lakh devotees who thronged Grand Road to watch the rath yatra proceedings. They kept chanting " jai Jagannath" and "Hari bol" incessantly even as a light drizzle kept the weather cool. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the people of the state on the occasion.

Security in the town was tight with 127 platoons of police forces deployed at strategic points. While two companies each of Rapid Action Force (RAF), Special Operation Group (SOG), Special Tactical Unit (STU) and Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (Odraf) were pressed into service, security arrangements were supervised by 28 superintendent of police rank and 68 deputy superintendent of police rank officers.

Two coast guard ships - Razia Sultana and Sarojini Naidu - patrolled the sea off the Puri coast to keep possible intruders at bay. The sea surveillance was further strengthened by a Dornier aircraft that kept watch on the Puri coast from above.