Women pull the chariot of Subhadra in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, June 29: Even as Lord Jagannath and His siblings began their homeward journey in Puri on Friday, the holy trinity was accorded a rousing reception on bahuda in different parts of the state.

Hundreds of devotees in Bhubaneswar, who were in no mood to miss the auspicious chariot-pulling festival, queued up at the various rath yatra venues.

The festival at Patia, on the outskirts of the city, saw a sea of devotees from far and near carrying the deities back to their abode. Patia king Dibyasingh Dev IV performed the chhera pahanra (sweeping of chariot decks) for the event, which resumed in 2010 after a gap of 78 years since the king of Kanika took over this erstwhile princely state in 1931.

The second largest gathering was seen at the homecoming festivities organised by International Society of Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon). It’s been two decades since the devotees of Lord Krishna began pulling the sacred strings of the three raths in the capital every year.

People taking part in the two-kilometre procession from Gundicha temple at CRPF to Iskcon Temple chanted “Hare Ram Hare Krishna” all along the way. Accompanying the chant was the deafening beating of cymbals, gongs and drums.

The capital city today witnessed as many as 43 bahuda yatras with those in Dumuduma, Jagamara, Unit-VI, Old Town and Badagada being the biggest crowd-pullers. Educational institutes such as KIIT University and Regional College of Management also celebrated bahuda enthusiastically.

As a precautionary measure, extra police personnel were deployed to manage the crowd. The traffic control department had also taken initiatives to regulate the city traffic.

The bahuda yatra of the divine siblings was observed with grandeur in Cuttack today.

Bhikari Das, member of Chandni Chowk Rath Yatra Coordination Committee, said that car festival was being celebrated in the city for the past 12 years. The unique feature of this event is that women devotees pull the chariot of goddess Subhadra, just like it is done in Baripada.

No untoward incidents were reported today. More than seven platoons of police force were deployed at Dolamundai and Chandni Chowk.

The bahuda yatra was also observed in Tulashi Khetra, the abode of Lord Baldevjew, the presiding deity of Kendrapara. Unlike Puri, the return journey is a two-day affair here.

The administration, apparently to ease its burden, had tried to restrict it to one day in the mid 90s. Religious-minded people, however, believe that the step evoked Baldevjew’s wrath with the wheels of chariot breaking and killing two devotees. It has been held over two days thereafter.