Construction of chariot wheels on in full swing on Grand Road in Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, May 19: The chariot-making teams, consisting of traditional carpenters, wood providers, designers and blacksmiths, are busy at Ratha Khala near the Jagannath temple in Puri, giving final touches to the chariots’ wheels for Bhaunri to be observed on Wednesday.

Every year, the axles are fitted into the chariot wheels on this special occasion in a ceremony during the Bhaunri ritual.

The teams are, therefore, busy to meet their first major deadline of an occasion before the rath yatra day.

“It is a kind of schedule planned by our forefathers. It helps us get ready major parts of the chariots one after another by certain special days. The first of this set is the Bhaunri, by when, we must be ready with the wheels and axles of the chariots,” said chief architect of Nandighosh (Lord Jagannath’s chariot) Bijay Kumar Mohapatra.

His team and two other teams that are working on Taladhwaja of Balabhadra and Debadalana of Goddess Subhadra are also putting in their best efforts to make the wheels perfect.

The process of constructing wheels includes the expertise of 55 carpenters, 50 providers of wood and logs, four karatis (experts with the saw), 10 ironsmiths and 15 wood sculptors.

“Once the carpenters get the parts of the wheels ready, we will start joining the metal and wood to fit each wheel,” said Ravi Bhoi, the chief of the Bhois.

On Saraswati Puja, the wood was procured for the chariots. The construction began on Akshay Tritiya (May 2) when the logs were brought to Ratha Khala.

About 300 more artisans will join in to fashion various portions of the chariots, said Ramachandra Das Mohapatra, a leading servitor at the Puri temple and a co-ordinator of the Rath Construction Committee.