Iskcon raths roll in Bhubaneswar and (below) chariots at Dolmundai in Cuttack on Sunday. Telegraph picture and picture by Badrika Nath Das

Braving excessively humid conditions, devotees took part in rath yatra festival in various parts of the twin cities with great enthusiasm today.

For the second consecutive year, three deities — Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra — of Chandni Chowk temple were kept at a temporary structure near CDA Colony as the Gundicha temple was demolished by the administration last year.

Earlier, the deities used to be taken on a nine-day sojourn to Gundicha temple near Belleview.

“In a bid to keep the chariots of the Lord rolling, we had made a provision for keeping the deities at a temporary structure near CDA after the chariots were pulled by a large number of devotees today,” said Chandni Chowk Jagannath temple management committee secretary Bhikari Das.

Das said the temporary arrangement had been made on a piece of vacant private land with due permission from the plot owner while efforts were on to search for a permanent venue where the Gundicha temple can be rebuilt.

The Chandni Chowk temple was built in 1996 while the temple administration has been observing the annual rath yatra of the three deities since 2000.

“Taking part in this holy festival gives us immense pleasure which cannot be explained in words,” said Radhamani Das, 65, a devotee.

“It was a great feeling to have pulled the chariot of the Lord as I did not get the opportunity to be a part of the festival for the last 10 years,” said Satyajit Routray, 37, a software engineer who is based in Bangalore at present.

Apart from Chandni Chowk, devotees also actively pulled the chariots of the deities at Dolamundai.

The rath yatra was also celebrated with pomp and grandeur at Jobra and Mahanadi Vihar areas while police made adequate arrangements for smooth conduct of the festival in the city.

More than 12 platoons of police force were deployed to maintain law and order while traffic diversions were also made at various locations, including at Dolamundai, to facilitate pulling of the chariots.

In Bhubaneswar, thousands of devotees thronged streets to pull chariots at various parts of the city amid sounds of conch and gong-beating and chants of hymns praising the Trinity.

Rath festival was celebrated in more than 40 places in the Bhubaneswar with Patia temple, Iskcon temple, KIIT University and Dumuduma drawing huge devotees.

In Patia, the rath yatra that started after a gap of eight decades in 2010 reached its fifth year of revival today.

The erstwhile fort of a princely state, Patiagarh is a suburb on the outskirts of the capital city.

Residents of Patia and neighbouring areas took part in the rituals.

This 41ft chariot started rolling around 3.30pm after erstwhile Patia King Dibyasingh Dev IV performed the chhera pahanra (ceremonial sweeping of deck of the chariot). Devotees pulled the chariots with zeal to the Gundicha temple located around 500 metres away.

Radhakant Das, public relations officer of Iskcon, said that they did not go to Puri on the day of rath yatra as they celebrated it here.

“As we could not go to Puri, we took part in the chariot pulling here,” said Anusuya Das, a devotee, who was waiting on a roadside in Bhubaneswar to have a glimpse of the Lords.