Rath Yatra 2015: Lord Balabhadra’s Chariot reaches Gundicha Temple

Lakhs of devotes thronged to Puri to witness the first Nabakalebara Rath Yatra of the century. The rituals were completed on time, but all chariots could not reach the Mausima Gundicha Temple. Only Lord Balabhadra’s ‘Taladhwaja’ arrived at the Gundicha Temple.

Devi Subhadra’s ‘Darpadalan’ stopped near Badasankha, while Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’ halted near Balagandi Square. Both the chariots will be pulled between 8-8:30 AM tomorrow.

Earlier, the ‘Pahandi Bije’ of Lord Sudarshan, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath started at around 8:40 AM ahead of the schedule and completed at around 12:35 PM. Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati climbed the chariots along with six disciples and paid obeisance to the deities. He did not attend the Rath Yatra last year due to some controversy.

Puri King Gajapati Dibya Singh Deb performed ‘Chhera Panhara’ in front of all chariots. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Odisha Governor SC Jamir, Jharkhnd Governor Draupadi Murmu, Union Tourism Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan and many other state Ministers. MPs, MLAs and Bureaucrats were among the key people, who paid their respect to the deities.

Pulling of chariots started at around 3:35 PM. While Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra’s chariots were pulled on time, Lord Jagannath’s chariot was pulled much later at around 5 PM. The unfortunate incident happened near Balagandi Square and Hindi Vidyapeeth, which claimed the lives of two women and another drowning death at Puri Sea Beach, dented the mood to some extent, but that did not deter the devotees from continuing their task of pulling the chariots.

According to reports, over 800 people fainted because of asphyxia and dehydration. However, they were provided with immediate care and assistance. By and large, the Nabakalebara Rath Yatra could be termed as successful although there has been a disputed over the exact number of devotees in Puri today. Some say 10-15 lakh people attended the event, while some others put the number at 6-8 lakh only.