Gajapati Maharaj of Puri at Sonepur Patali Srikshetra. Telegraph picture

Sonepur, June 20: The Subarnapur district administration is all set to observe rath yatra at Patali Srikshetra at Kotsomalai village of Subarnapur district on July 3.

This is the first time that the car festival would be observed at Patali Srikshetra after the Jagannath temple administration of Puri granted patali status to Kotsomalai in 2007.

In February during the Patali Mahotsav, Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb visited Patali Srikshetra and installed idols of the three deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, donated by the Puri Jagannath temple administration to the Patali Srikshetra management committee about fours years ago.

On Sunday, the district administration convened a meeting where it was decided to observe the festival with all pomp and gaiety. Earlier, the car festival could not be observed at the Patali Srikshetra as idols of the lords had not been installed. The deities had been kept in the house of a villager of Kotsomalai for more than three years.

President of the Patali Srikshetra management committee Uttar Patra said it was good news for Subarnapur people. “People of Subarnapur were waiting for this day. We used to feel hurt that the car festival could not be held at Patali Srikshetra for the simple reason that the lords were not installed. Now, we will be able to observe the car festival this year. The district administration has promised to extend all help to observe it in a grand way,” said Patra.

The devotees are equally happy at the decision to observe the festival.

Sujit Mahapatra, a devotee, said it had been a long wait. “For over three years, we have been waiting for rath yatra to be held at Patali Srikshetra after the Puri temple administration granted recognition of the place as connected to the lords. But, there could be no car festival as there was no place to install the lords. Now that the lords have been installed, we hope to observe the festival,” Mahapatra said.

Puri temple administration specially made the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra for around Rs 55,000 from the temple treasury and donated the idols to the action committee for installation in 2007.

Subarnapur collector Gagan Bihari Swain said three chariots would be built. “It has been decided to build three chariots for the deities and rituals will be performed in the same manner as it is done during the Puri car festival,” Swain said. The collector called upon every one in the district to cooperate with the administration to make the festival a success.

“For the smooth management we should think of a trust for Patali Srikshetra. It is time to do away with the management committee and float a trust,” Swain said.

A team, led by the then Puri temple administrator Suresh Mahapatra and comprising researchers on Jagannath cult and sevayats of the temple that visited Kotsomalai village in 2007, had concluded that Lord Jagannath had been hidden in a cave of the nearby Trikuta hills for 144 years to get rid of the attack of Raktabahu and Kalapahad.

Accordingly, the Puri temple administration granted Patali Srikshetra status to Kotsomalai. The temple administration also announced to extend all possible help for development of the area.