Puri braces for world famous Rath Yatra starting Friday

Bhubaneswar, June 26 (IANS) The city of Puri in Odisha is bracing for the famous Ratha Yatra, as holy siblings -- Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and sister Subhadra -- prepare to embark on their nine-day sojourn from their abode, the 12th-century shrine, to Gundicha Temple on June 27.

Devotees, gripped with ecstasy, will pull the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra — Nandighosh, Taladhwaja, and Darpadalan respectively — for around 3 km to the Gundicha Temple, believed by some legends to be the birthplace of the Chaturddha Murti (Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Maa Subhadra, and Sudarshan).

Various departments of the state government have made elaborate preparations to ensure a smooth and incident-free Rath Yatra on Friday. “We are fully prepared for tomorrow’s grand Rathayatra."

"All rituals and arrangements have been meticulously planned and will be carried out with equal dedication. I seek the blessings of Mahaprabhu and the cooperation of all devotees to ensure a smooth and sacred celebration,” said Sidharth Shankar Swain, Collector, Puri.

The holy city of Puri has been placed under a five-tiered security blanket for the nine-day-long Rath Yatra festival beginning from Friday.

As many as 200 platoons of police force and eight companies of the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, etc., have been deployed throughout the sacred coastal town for the Ratha Yatra.

Similarly, around 10,000 personnel of Odisha police, Central Armed Police Force and home guard have been deployed in Puri and around the city during the Ratha Yatra this year.

The police officers stationed at integrated command-and-control system, set up for the first time this year, and other sub-control rooms will keep a watch on traffic and crowd movements through live feeds from around 275 AI-enabled CCTVs installed from Uttara Square to Puri Town, in the town and from Puri to Konark.

“The world-famous Ratha yatra is going to commence tomorrow (Friday). All the preparations for this have been completed. Police have made elaborate arrangements for the safety and security, traffic and law and order. A chatbot application has been launched this afternoon. I want to appeal to all the people to explore this application to get real-time updates about traffic movements on roads leading to the holy town and the availability of parking spots. I hope the Ratha Yatra will be successful with the cooperation of people,” said Y.B. Khurania, DGP, Odisha Police on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway has started 365 special trains to ensure hassle-free travel of devotees to the Puri from different parts of Odisha and other neighbouring states.

Keeping in view onset of monsoon season, the Odisha Health department has deployed over 375 doctors and other medical staff to tackle any medical emergency.

The department made arrangements for additional 265 additional beds at Puri District Headquarters hospital and other health facilities and set up around 69 fast aid centres in the holy city.

After 14 days of isolation period in the ‘Anasara Gruha’ inside the Jagannath Temple following the ritual bath on Snana Yatra on June 11, the devotees on Thursday got the darshan of the holy triad on the occasion of ‘Netrotsav’ or ‘Nabajauvana Darshan’.

--IANS

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