24km Rajarhat road test for Jagannath rath's Sukhoi tyres
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Kolkata: The chariot used to carry Lord Jagannath during the Rath Yatra in Kolkata did a 24 km dry run on Saturday night, hours after its ageing Jumbo jet wheels of 1978 vintage were replaced with mint-fresh wheels used in Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets in the Indian Air Force.
The four tyres cost Rs 1.8 lakh.
"The chariot was hauled by a tow truck from its garage in Rajarhat to the Gurusaday Road. The journey was smooth. We expect the 7-km journey on the day of Rath Yatra and the return journey on Ulta Rath to be glitch-free," said Iskcon Kolkata vice-president Radharamn Das. This will be Iskcon Kolkata's 54th Rath Yatra.
While the rath travelled at 8 kmph on Saturday, it usually crawls at 1.4 kmph during the Rath Yatra.
The tyres are capable of doing 280 kmph, the speed of the take-off run on the tarmac before the Sukhoi jets become airborne.
Officials of MRF Tyres, manufacturers of the tubeless tyres for the fighter jet, were taken aback when Iskcon first approached them for the Sukhoi tyres that appeared to be the closest fit to the Dunlop tyres for Boeing B-747 aircraft that were fitted when American engineer Garry William Roberts designed Iskcon Kolkata's chariot in 1977.
"The only customers that the company had for these tyres was the Indian Air Force. They were so shocked when we requested to buy the four tyres that they sent their officials to look at the rath. They confirmed that the 4-ft diameter Sukhoi tyres are the closest match to the jumbo jet tyres that were in use. Iskcon is now the second customer for these tyres," said Das.
Each Sukhoi tyre is capable of taking a load of 13 tonnes.
Together, the four tyres can carry 52 tonnes. While the Sukhoi aircraft weighs 18.4 tonnes, the maximum weight of Jagannath's chariot along with the deity, priests, and disciples riding it will be 16 tonnes.
The search for the tyres began two decades ago in 2005.
Though Iskcon zeroed in on the Sukhoi tyres around 2018, the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the urgent replacement required in the iron wheels of Balaram's rath caused the delay.
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