Bidhannagar Sree Chaitanya Bhagabat Samaj 

The first juggernaut to roll on the day of Rathyatra was from BA-CA Park, in the lane opposite Tank 2. Chief guests such as actress and MP Satabdi Roy and MLA Sujit Bose upheld the tradition of sweeping the ground that the chariot would roll on and then it was over to the devotees.

Women uluated, the men behind the mic cried “Joy Jagannath” and everyone on the street ran up and tried to get a hold of the rope. Such was the rush that many let go after a few seconds to allow others to have a turn. Some put currency notes into the donation box on the chariot, others spread out their palms for prasad.

“We’re giving out gujiya, peda and bonde,” smiled Mithu Banerjee, a Labony resident who was seated on the chariot. Two men stood on top of the rath, sticks in hand. Their job was to lift all overhead cables out of the way so the chariot could roll without damaging them.

Also perched on the chariot was the priest Debasish Mukherjee. “Lucky is the one who gets to pull the rath today,” said the priest. “The rest of the year devotees have to go to the temple for darshan but on this day the Lord himself comes out to meet His devotees and no one is barred from darshan.”

“I come here every year,” said Risha Roy of Class II, after pulling the chariot a distance. “So big is this chariot that I don’t bother getting a small one to pull at home.”

The rath travelled around CA and BA blocks, to Kwality and then to the Central Park fair, where it stayed till Ultarath.

Sri Jagannath Utsav Samity 

Not one but three chariots set off from CB 54 next to Tank 2 – one each for Jagannath and siblings Balaram and Subhadra. And along with them went a long convoy of bhajan singers, dancers and devotees.

“I’ve told my son that god will be taking a ride in his car today,” smiled Fulva Agarwal, of New Town’s Jal Vayu Towers, as the two-and-a-half-year-old Anvit watched the procession wide-eyed.

Fourteen-year-old Anjali De had come with full gusto and a new pair of sandals but soon after the juggernaut passed where she had been standing, she found one of her slippers torn. “It’s beyond repair,” said the girl, stepping out of both pairs.
“Guess I’ll have to walk home barefoot. But I feel blessed that I got to pull the rath. It was worth it,” said the girl who lives in the slums outside Salt Lake.

The occasion brought out many amateur photographers with their DSLR cameras and long lenses. “Rathyatra is a delight to click,” said Nilanjan Pathak, a photographer from CA Block. “This yatra has been organised by the super-rich but pulling it are ordinary people. The rich, poor, educated, illiterate…I can get everyone in the same frame,” he smiled, before rushing off to get another shot.

But not everyone was happy. “I have a train to catch and here I am stuck for more than 10 minutes at PNB crossing,” said IIT Kharagpur student Saikat Das, on his way back to college. But he seemed visibly happier when a devotee ran up to his auto and handed him prasad of goja from the chariot.  

The chariots took several pit stops, the first being at AC 15, the Lihalas’ house. 

“Water, lemonade, sherbet, tea and ice cream have been arranged for 2,000 people,” smiled a volunteer Binod Kumar, pouring sherbet into a thirsty devotee’s glass. 

“The rest of the year I’m a businessman but this one day I make it my business to serve others.”

The walkie-talkie wielding volunteers, all dressed in crisp yellow kurtas, did a smart job at managing the huge crowd. “This was our 27th year of Rathyatra and we are overwhelmed to note that around 80,000 people joined us at various places,” said Sanjay Poddar, one of the organisers.
 

Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra

In its 10th year of Rath celebrations, this centre’s chariot had been overhauled before the big day. The wheels, in particular, had been renovated for a smoother run. “So smooth has the chariot become that it ran over my own feet!” said Chanchal De, secretary of the DD Block centre, showing his reddened feet shortly after the chariot started rolling.

Since it would be easier pulling the chariot this year, the procession was supposed to take a longer route than usual. It would have taken a right from its gate, gone up to Tank 4, then Tank 3 and back. “But the devotees got so excited that they pulled the chariot left instead of right,” exclaimed De, who had been shouting instructions from near the chariot but whose voice got drowned by the cries of “Jai Jagannath!”

So the rath did take the planned route, but in reverse direction. “The police has been informed about the change and there will be no problem,” assured De, a doctor by profession who added that there won’t be a major problem with his feet either.

Though many members of the Kendra are senior citizens, the frontrunners pulling the ropes were all under 10. They were either grandchildren of members or students who study at the school run by the Kendra. “We’re very strong and can pull the chariot all the way,” said siblings Rupali, Sonali and Shambhu Shikari, all aged between five and eight years.

With the ropes already spoken for, some senior citizens chose to push, if not pull, the rath. “If one has devotion in one’s heart, pulling and pushing mean the same thing,” said Sisir Kushari of Karunamoyee, pushing the rath from behind. “Plus by pushing I actually get to touch the holy chariot that the lord sits in.”

Others like Ratna Mitra of AH Block pulled the chariot just out of the Kendra’s gate before retiring. “This is how far Jagannath wished me to draw the rath,” she smiled, before limping back in, rubbing her knees that ached with pain.