Bramha Taladhawaja wheels develop cracks, pulling to resume today

New Indian Express

2 days ago

KENDRAPARA: Around four out of 14 wheels of the Bramha Taladhawaja chariot of the ancient Baladevjew temple in Kendrapara developed cracks on the second day of the Rath Yatra on Saturday.
As a result, the 65-feet long chariot could not reach the Mausima temple, located two kilometres away.
On Friday, the chariot was pulled by the devotees only for ten metres. While devotees resumed pulling the chariot towards Mausima temple on Saturday, spokes of some of the wheels were found partly broken for which the chariot leaned towards the left side.
The chariot could not be pulled further as engineers and carpenters failed to repair the wheels. Engineers are trying their best to repair the damaged wheels and lift the chariot by using machines, said Balabhadra Patri, executive officer of Baladevjew temple.
'Out of 14 wheels of the chariot, we built four new wheels and repaired the rest due to shortage of good quality wood. We procured 760 cubic feet of Sal wood from the Forest department in Keonjhar district for the construction of the state's second biggest wooden chariot,' he said. Construction work of the three chariots at Puri started on Akshaya Tritiya on April 30 but in Kendrapara, it began on May 23 due to the delay by Forest department to provide wood to the temple,' Patri added.
Pramod Dash, a priest of the temple, said. 'The temple authorities used old timber to build the wheels of the chariot as a result many wheels developed cracks. The journey of the chariot has already been delayed for two days. We hope it will reach the temple on Sunday.'