Cuttack: The Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) has started the process for cutting of wood for construction of the three chariots of Lord Jagannath and his siblings for the annual Puri rath yatra at its saw mill at Khapuria here.
Logs are being sliced for building the Puri chariots at the saw mill since 2005. The process started with the customary cutting of the first log of wood to be used to build the chariots on the auspicious occasion of Ramnavami on Sunday.
The process will be given a full-fledged start within the next few days under the supervision of the Rath Maharana of the Puri Jagannath Temple. "Around 32 workers will be engaged to ensure that the logs cut into various sizes reach Puri before the Akhi Trutiya," said an OFDC official.
Going by the tradition, the chariot construction work starts on Akhi Trutiya, the third day of the bright half of the lunar Vaisakh month in the Hindu calendar, which falls on Saturday April 18 this year.
Usually, dharua, phasi, asana and simili wood are used to build the three chariots - Nandighosh (Lord Jagannath), Taladhwaj (Balabhadra) and Darpadalan (Subhadra) that are pulled by lakhs of devotees who congregate at the pilgrim town of Puri on rath yatra every year.
"Some 865 logs are used for building the three chariots. However, we have asked the Nayagarh forest division for supply of 681 logs of the specified trees this year as we already have a stock of 184 logs. Of them, 281 logs will be sliced as per requirements in the OFDC saw mill in Cuttack", said a Puri temple administration official.
The remaining 400 logs will be cut and prepared at the Ratha Kala in Puri. "The Nayagarh forest division has already delivered 300 logs of the specified variety of wood at the Ratha Kala in Puri, while another 258 logs have already reached the saw mill in Cuttack. The rest are expected to be supplied shortly," the official said.
The logs will be chiselled by nearly a hundred carpenters at the Ratha Kala in Puri to construct the three chariots for the trinity.
