Rath yatra was observed at Tulashi Khetra, the abode of Lord Baldevjew here today, with thousands of devotees pulling the chariot.

The divine Trinity were brought atop the chariot for the pahandi ritual yesterday. However, the rath was not pulled here yesterday following local tradition.

Unlike the Puri Jagannath's seven-day chariot journey, the rath yatra here is a two-day affair. The pulling of chariot takes place a day after the Puri Lord Jagannath's rath yatra

"We eagerly wait for the occasion to pull the chariot every year," said devotee Ramesh Chandra Mahapatra.

"The chariot's march goes on for two days as Baldevjew, who is Lord Jagannath's elder brother, holds a more exalted place than his more famous younger brother. That's why Tulashi Khetra's chariot is not only taller than that of Puri, but its circumference and width are also larger than the Puri Jagannath's chariot," said Akshya Pani, a trustee member of the Baldevjew temple.

The district administration tried to make the rath yatra a one-day affair during the mid-90s to ease their burden. But the move invited severe criticism from the devotees and the trustees of the temple, who ensure that the tradition of the two-day rath yatra, which has been going on since time immemorial, is not broken.

The annual rath yatra festival here is observed with several distinctive features and characteristics that differ from the practices of the Puri Jagannath's rath yatra.

Devadasi tradition

Though the devadasi system of dance has disappeared elsewhere, a 50-year-old widow has kept the tradition alive at the abode of Lord Baldevjew here.

Taramani Rout, a homeguard of district police, danced gracefully as the chariot of Lord Baldevjew was pulled on the Grand Road. Rout has managed to revive the archaic ritual of worship through devadasi dance with support from the temple management.

"I have been performing the devadasi dance in front of the chariot for the past two decades. After doing my duty of homeguard, I rush to temple during the evening hours every day. I have been performing the ' mahari seva' before the deities and the chariot," said Taramani, an inhabitant of Bagapatia village in Rajnagar block.