The chariots of Lord Jagannath and siblings - Balabhadra and Subhadra - which had halted at different points on the Grand Road here yesterday, reached Shree Gundicha Temple, their final destination, this morning.

Soaked in religious fervour, devotees turned out in large numbers to pull the chariots. Policemen deployed in the temple town lent a helping hand. Chants of " Jai Jagannath" and "Hari bol" rent the air as devotees pulled the ropes setting the chariots rolling towards Gundicha, where the deities will spend the next eight days before returning to Jagannath Temple.

The crowd today included people of all age groups, mostly young men eager to touch the ropes of the chariotsas this is considered auspicious. Even women and children, who had to be content with watching the chariots from a distance yesterday because of the huge crowd, got the opportunity to pull the ropes today. "It was a unique experience. I have always dreamt of this moment. Today, I realised my dream," said Bibek Lenka, a college student.

Standing outside Gundicha Temple, the three chariots - Taladhwaj of Lord Balabhadra, Darpadalan of Devi Subhadra and Nandighosh of Lord Jagannath - were drawing devotees in hordes. With access to the chariots restricted, police had thrown a security ring around them. Even so, thousands of people offered their prayers to the deities sitting atop their mounts from a distance. Senior sevayat Ramchandra Das Mohapatra said: "It is a great opportunity for the devotees to have darshan of the deities on their chariots. They can pay obeisance to them and seek their blessings."

Following a series of rituals, the deities will be taken inside Shree Gundicha Temple in ceremonial processions ( pahandi) tomorrow evening. Then, devotees will be free to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, the abode the Lords' aunt, and have regular darshan there by making offerings.

Security arrangements in the town continued to be tight with focus on the three chariots stationed outside Shree Gundicha Temple. Both the police and temple officials were keeping a strict watch on the devotees to rule out the possibility anyone sneaking inside the cordon and trying to climb atop the mounts.

Round-the-clock vigil at the spot had become necessary in view of a past controversy in which an influential devotee allegedly aided by a sevayat (servitor) had managed to climb up one of the chariots to offer prayers.