As competing Jagannath temple emerges in Digha, Odisha pulls out all stops for Rath Yatra in Puri
Somewhere in the 3-km long stretch of Bada Danda street between Jagannath and Gundicha temples in Odisha's Puri, Anirban Bose cranes his neck to see better over the sea of heads around him. It's been drizzling, and near him, the sounds of the ghanti (cymbals) — played by some priests dressed in red — get louder and louder.
Suddenly, the crowd surges forward, their hands raised in prayer, as they see what they were waiting for: Lord Jagannath emerging from his 12th Century temple and heading towards the Gundicha temple in his chariot, Nandighosh.
'We are happy that there's a Jagannath Temple at Digha but nothing compares with the Puri Temple,' Bose, a native of West Bengal, says as the chariots pass by. 'This is the original seat of the deities, and it would be immature to compare the Rath Yatra at Digha with this one.'
Bose travelled 500 km from Kolkata to witness the grand annual Rath Yatra, or the chariot festival, of the Hindu God Jagannath. According to Hindu mythology, the Lord and his siblings – Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra – embark on a nine-day annual sojourn to their birthplace, the Gundicha Temple. The deities remain there until the 'Bahuda Yatra' — or the return journey — scheduled on July 5 this year.
For the temple town of Puri, the event is a grand one, seeing lakhs of devotees not only from Odisha but also the neighbouring West Bengal. But the yatra this year is particularly significant: it comes at a time when there's a row between Odisha's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and West Bengal's Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the 'Jagannath Dham' – a replica of Puri's 12th century Jagannath Temple — inaugurated on April 30 this year in Digha, West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee too was among the millions of devotees to join the annual religious event at Puri, which saw several VVIPs — including Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati and Chief Minister Mohan Majhi – pull the chariot.
Banerjee has been in the temple town since Wednesday and was among those who were part of 'Chhera Pahanra'. A key ritual that involved sweeping the floors of the rath with a golden broom, this ritual is traditionally done by Puri's erstwhile royal Dibyasingha Deb.
At the yatra, the crowd surges towards the ornate temple-like chariots being pulled by lakhs of devotees. As the three chariots – Lord Jagannath's Nandighosh with its red and yellow canopy, Goddess Subhadra's black and red Devadalana and Lord Balabhadra's green and red Taladhwaja – pass by, the cries of 'Jai Jagannath' rings out.
The Nandighosh rath was pulled only a few metres Friday, with officials citing delay in rituals. As the crowds swelled in Puri for the yatra, the Odisha government pulled all stops, stationing 10,000 police personnel in the temple town for the annual event. Odisha's BJP Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi also directed the administration to make this year's yatra 'incident-free'.
There were reports about people complaining of suffocation and collapsing during Rath Yatra. Ambulances were called in to take some devotees to the hospital.
When asked, Odisha's Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling blamed the humidity for 'one or two' devotees collapsing.
'The rescue team took them to the hospital immediately and their conditions are absolutely normal now. Adequate arrangements are being done in all healthcare centres,' he said.
Meanwhile, the row over the naming of the Digha temple continued to fester — day before the Rath Yatra, Puri Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati claimed the new temple was just a means of generating revenue and 'had nothing to with devotion to Lord Jagannath'.
The remarks came over a month after the Odisha chief minister wrote to his West Bengal counterpart that naming the Digha temple 'Jagannath Dham' had 'hurt' the sentiments of millions of devotees.
The same month, Puri royal, also the chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, too had slammed the West Bengal government claiming that the move amounts to violation of 'scriptural injunctions and long-established tradition'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
BJP bringing up Katchatheevu issue to divert attention from Centre's failure to secure T.N. fishermen's rights: TNCC chief
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai on Saturday said the BJP was raking up the 50-year-old Katchatheevu issue to divert attention away from the Union government's failure to ensure Tamil fishermen don't face violence and harrassment from the Sri Lankan Navy. In a statement, Mr. Selvaperunthagai said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was trying to cover-up the actions of the Sri Lankan Navy against Tamil Nadu fishermen over the last 11 years of BJP rule at the Centre. He also clarified that Katchatheevu was not ceded to Sri Lanka during Emergency. 'The External Affairs Minister has made factually incorrect statements. Emergency was not in effect when the agreement [to cede the island] was signed on June 26, 1974. On July 23, 1974, the then External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh tabled a report in the Lok Sabha and addressed Parliament. All political parties, including the BJP, participated and voiced their opinions,' he said. 'After the Congress government, did Prime Minister Vajpayee, during his six-year tenure, or Prime Minister Modi, during his 11-year rule, ever hold talks with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister about reclaiming Katchatheevu? If Katchatheevu was truly the root cause of the fishermen's problems, the Indian government should have raised this with Sri Lanka,' Mr. Selvaperunthagai added. He said: 'Tamil Nadu fishermen are not arrested near Katchatheevu. Instead, they are arrested when they unintentionally cross the maritime boundary into Sri Lankan waters, especially during nighttime fishing. Therefore, the BJP government must hold talks with Sri Lanka to secure fishing rights in those waters based on the livelihoods of Tamil Nadu's fishermen.'
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
CM: BJP govt outperformed Cong in 18 mths
Jaipur: Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma Saturday said his govt performed better than the previous Congress regime led by Ashok Gehlot, describing the difference as "sleight of hand and magic" versus "working with honesty and hard work. " Speaking at the 29th state-level Bhamashah award ceremony at a private school in the city, Sharma backed his claims of better governance with statistics. "What the Congress govt couldn't achieve in five years, our govt accomplished in just one-and-a-half years," he said. The chief minister reeled off achievements, especially in education and welfare schemes. He said the current BJP govt has distributed 10 lakh bicycles in the 18 months of its tenure, outpacing the previous govt's distribution of 10.3 lakh during their five-year term. On skilling the youth, the BJP govt has trained over 3 lakh persons, compared to the Congress govt's 2.35 lakh in five years, he claimed. The student scooter distribution scheme has also seen marked improvement, with about 30,000 scooters distributed by the current administration against 6,400 in previous Congress govt's first 18 months and about 21,000 in their full term. Sharma also highlighted the successful distribution of tablets and laptops to over 88,000 students by his govt. "The opposition leaders find it very difficult to hear when the comparison is made," Sharma remarked, adding that his cabinet ministers, MPs, MLAs and public representatives deserve recognition for their hard work.
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
RSS to Raj Bhavan via Goa BJP, now amid ‘Bharat Mata' image row—tracing Kerala Governor Arlekar's journey
At the heart of the controversy is an image of Bharat Mata holding a saffron flag, widely used by the RSS as a symbol of nationalism. However, the Kerala governor, who was associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from his early days, is now facing allegations from both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front of turning the Raj Bhavan into RSS office. Thiruvananthapuram: A strong advocate of the Konkani language and credited with making the Goa Assembly the first paperless legislature in the country, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is known for contributing significantly to the Bharatiya Janata Party's growth in his home state and achieving several firsts. While the governor insists on paying floral tributes to the image at every official event, including the ones conducted in the Raj Bhavan, the LDF and UDF see this as an attempt to convert the governor's official residence into RSS office. The issue escalated Thursday when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Arlekar, objecting to the use of the image at official events. Kerala Higher Education Minister R. Bindu Thursday accused him of attempting to popularise the 'RSS' Bharat Mata concept'. 'The governor is carrying along with him an image of the RSS version of Bharat Mata wearing a silk saree and holding a saffron flag, which is not accepted in independent India. It should be seen as a ploy to get wider acceptance for the RSS' Bharat Mata concept,' she told mediapersons. However, a senior official at the Raj Bhavan said the current issue was being blown out of proportion for political interests and asserted that Arlekar does not seek to create controversies. He added the governor has made it clear there will be no compromise on the Bharat Mata image. 'He is concerned about the row, but not worried about it,' the official told ThePrint. 'What image should be put up in the Raj Bhavan is decided by others. He is not asking anyone else to do the same or to pay floral tributes to the image.' 'He has been extending his hand to the state… If certain forces don't want that, what can he do,' the official said, adding the issue cannot be compared to typical tussles between Centre-appointed governors and opposition-led states because Arlekar has not hesitated to fulfil his Constitutional duties. 'There are no pending bills with him, nor has he failed in his constitutional duties,' the official said, adding Arlekar enjoys a good rapport with the Centre. Credited with BJP's growth in Goa Arlekar, 71, who was associated with the RSS from his early days, played a significant role in strengthening the BJP in Goa, working closely with former chief minister and Union minister, the late Manohar Parrikar. 'The BJP was not that strong in Goa initially. In 1991, a few people, including Parrikar and Arlekar, joined the BJP from the Sangh and started working to strengthen the party base. Arlekar contested the 1991 Lok Sabha elections but didn't win. In 1994, we won four out of 40 seats in the Assembly. It was historic. In 1999, it became 10,' Sadanand Tanavade, a former Goa BJP president and a close friend of Arlekar, told ThePrint. Tanavade added that Arlekar's popularity also grew during his days in active politics as he led several agitations against then ruling Congress' alleged corrupt practices. Arlekar officially joined the BJP in 1989 and served the organisation in various roles since then. His father Vishwanath Arlekar was a state president of the Jan Sangh, the BJP precursor. Although he lost in his first attempt, Arlekar was elected MLA in 2002. In 2012, he was elected the speaker of the Goa Assembly and served for three years. 'He was the first speaker who ran the Assembly entirely in Konkani. He used to speak entirely in Konkani when he was presiding over the Assembly,' Tanavade said. He also oversaw the transition of the Assembly proceedings to paperless, the first such initiative in an Indian state. Tanavade said Arlekar was close to the party high command while in active politics and would always remain content with whatever responsibility the party assigned him and never lobbied for any post. 'He is a nice, down-to-earth person. He's a very good speaker. He can talk about anything, especially national integrity. His first priority is the nation,' Tanavade said. In 2021, Arlekar was appointed the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, and in 2024, he became the Governor of Bihar before being sworn in as Kerala Governor on 2 January 2025. The image controversy and more On the Republic Day this year, Arlekar praised Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his clear vision for the state's development and expressed pride in the state. Their apparent bonhomie suggested a peaceful relationship between the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led state government and the Raj Bhavan, a welcome change from what it was when Arlekar's predecessor Arif Mohammed Khan was in office. However, the situation changed in earlier this month, 5 June to be precise. On Environment Day, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad boycotted an event at the Raj Bhavan over the display of a Bharat Mata portrait. Later, on 19 June, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty boycotted the Scouts and Guides Rajya Puraskar award ceremony, leaving the Raj Bhavan shortly after extending his wishes to the children and condemning the display of the image. The tussle escalated Wednesday as members of the CPI(M)'s Students Federation of India and the Congress' Kerala Students' Union protested outside the Kerala University where the governor had attended an event organised by a right-wing group that displayed the controversial image. The protests led to clashes as RSS-BJP supporters opposed them. About a month ago, Arlekar triggered a row by nominating 10 deans to the Kannur University, all from outside the university, in direct violation of the university statutes, which stipulate that deans must be professors from the university's own departments. Of the 10 people nominated, six were from institutions funded by the Union government, and the rest from outside the state. Subsequently, the Kannur University syndicate passed a resolution against the move. In December last year, while serving as Bihar governor, Arlekar sparked a row by saying that the British rulers left India not because of the freedom satyagraha but because they saw arms in the hands of native people. The comment drew criticism from opposition leaders who claimed the comments disrespected freedom fighters. Kerala BJP leader Anoop Antony Joseph claimed the ruling CPI(M) is trying to make it into controversy to distract from 'anti-incumbency' sentiment in the state and its loss in the recent Nilambur bypoll. 'It's also part of appeasement politics by both the LDF and UDF. The LDF doesn't have any development to show in the upcoming polls. So, it's easy for them to resort to religious appeasement. We saw the same in Nilambur by both LDF and UDF,' he told ThePrint. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: 'Bharat Mata' portrait pits LDF against Kerala Governor, again. 'Turning Raj Bhavan into party office'
