Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Pomp, gaiety mark rath yatra of Lord Jagannathaswamy

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

Devotional fervour: Members of a bhajan mandali taking part in rath yatra of Lord Jagannath organised by ISKCON in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The annual rath yatra of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra began on a grand scale in the city on Wednesday.

Hundreds of devotees took part in the yatra conducted separately by Jagannathaswamy temple committee, Utkal Sankrutika Samaj, International Society for Krishna Consciousness and Utkalika Cultural Association. Religious fervour and gaiety marked the first day of the yatra.

Lord Jagannath is taken to the streets once in a year for his sojourn at His aunt’s place popularly known as ‘Gundicha Ghar.’ Chherapanhara, sweeping of the floor is done by golden or silver broom by Kings in the olden days and VVIPs including members of erstwhile royal families to send the message that there is no difference between the king and the ordinary person.

The highlight of this year’s yatra was the organising of car festival for the first time by ISKCON. The tastefully decorated chariot started rolling from the Sampath Vinayaka temple junction to Gurazada Kalakshetram. The chariot has a 30-ft high collapsible canopy. ISKCON devotees were accompanied by nadaswaram and bhajan mandali members adding colour to the procession. Four horses also formed part of the yatra.

MLAs Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao, V.R.K. Babu, Malla Vijayaprasad and Chintalapudi Venkataramaiah were among the VVIPs present.

Tremendous enthusiasm marked the pulling of chariot from the 180-year-old Jagannathaswamy temple on Town Kotha Road. It ended at Turner’s Choultry for ‘dasavatarams’ starting with ‘matsavataram’ on Thursday. Mr. Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao was the first to pull the chariot. Mr. Malla Vijayaprasad took part in the ceremony with his family. Endowment Assistant Commissioner Pushpanatham, Executive Officer of Jagannathaswamy temple B. Trimurtulu and temple trust board chairman S.V. Ranga Rao were present.

Utkal Sankrutika Samaj took out the yatra from Daspalla Hills to the Gundicha Ghar located on the beach road near Shanti Ashram. The sweeping of the floor was performed traditionally by Lal Saheb Pramod Kumar Bhanjdeo, member of Daspalla royal family.

Samaj president and Commissioner of Income Tax P.K. Das greeted him on arrival and later took part in the procession amid chanting of bhajans in praise of Lord Jagannath.

The car festival of Lord Jagannath was celebrated in VSP’s township of Ukkunagaram with pomp and gaiety. Steel Plant employees with their families participated in the ceremony. RINL Chairman and Managing Director P.K. Bishnoi and his wife Anita Bishnoi offered prayers and traditional services to Lord Jagannath at the rath yatra at Ukkunagaram under the aegis of Utkalika Cultural Association.

Dance and musical programmes will be conducted till July 5 -- the return yatra (bahuda).

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