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Hindustan Times
14 hours ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Preparations begin for Lord Jagannath's 'Bahuda Yatra' with rotation of chariots
Puri, The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration with the help of Puri district administration and police on Wednesday started preparations for the 'Bahuda Yatra' of Lord Jagannath a day after the completion of 'Hera Panchami' rituals, an official said. Preparations begin for Lord Jagannath's 'Bahuda Yatra' with rotation of chariots The devotees are having a smooth 'darshan' of the sibling deities - Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath - at Shree Gundicha Temple for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, the SJTA official said. Preparations are on to turn the chariots southwards for the 'Bahuda Yatra' on July 5, he said. The three majestic chariots - Taladwaj , Darpadalan and Nandighosh are now parked at 'Saradhabali' in front of Shree Gundicha Temple, considered as the birthplace of the deities. They will be turned around for the return car festival, the official said. He said that on-duty police personnel and a handful of servitors will drag the chariot and keep them at the proper place before they are pulled to the 12th-century shrine during Bahuda Yatra on July 5. "Today, after the 'Sakaladhupa' ritual, the chariot will be pulled after the 'Agyanmala' come from the deities the chariots would take 'Dakhina Moda'. Three 'Agnya Mala' have meanwhile reached the chariots. It gives me immense satisfaction to be part of the Rath Yatra rituals," said Madhav Pujapanda, who carried the 'Agnya Mala' from Shree Gundicha Temple to chariots. In the series, first, the Devadalan chariot of Devi Subhadra will be pulled, followed by the Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra and finally the Nandighosh chariot of Jagannath to reach in front of the 'Nakachana Dwara' for forward pulling on July 5th. According to mythology, the three-day 'Rasalila' will begin at Shree Gundicha Temple on Wednesday. Lord Jagannath would perform 'Rasalila' with 'Gopis' . Meanwhile, the Hera Panchami ritual was observed on Tuesday night when Lord Jagannath's consort Maa Laxmi reached Shree Gundicha Temple in anger and humiliation for not being taken on Rath Yatra. Maa Laxmi was angry because Lord Jagannath took his brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra in Rath Yatra and not her. In anger, Maa Laxmi broke a portion of Nandighosh chariot of Lord Jagannath as per the ritual and returned to the main temple in a ceremonial procession. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Indian Express
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Puri Rath Yatra stampede puts BJP on back foot as BJD, Congress raise storm
While the BJP government in Odisha claims to have taken 'swift action' following Sunday's stampede during the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri that claimed three lives, the incident seems to have jolted the party days after it went all out to celebrate its first year in power. While BJP insiders admit that the incident has dented the government's image and has led to the party putting off the election of its state chief, the Mohan Charan Majhi dispensation has also come under fire from the Opposition. 'A high-level committee of ministers headed by Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida was constituted to oversee (Rath Yatra) preparations. Has anyone seen the panel members on the ground? Are they not responsible for the mess? Why has action not been taken against them?' an Opposition leader asked. A smooth conduct of the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri has traditionally been seen in Odisha as public validation for successive governments. During a review meeting with the administration on June 22, the Majhi government directed that the Rath Yatra must be 'incident-free'. The Majhi government, which barely had a month last year to prepare for the annual event, pulled out all stops this year and started preparations for the 'memorable event' barely a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally on June 22 in Bhubaneswar, where he said that the BJP government was completing one year in power while the state was gearing up for the Rath Yatra. Last Friday, the BJP government came under attack for the delay in pulling the chariot of Lord Jagannath, which only moved a few metres before the day ended. It also came under attack for 'lapses' in crowd management that left over 200 devotees ill. As per tradition, in the Rath Yatra, also known as Gundicha Yatra, the Lord along with his siblings – elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra – embark on a nine-day sojourn from their 12th century shrine to the Gundicha Temple, their birthplace, covering a distance of around 3 km. After a ceremonial procession called 'Pahandi', the deities are taken to the Gundicha Temple on three large chariots, where they stay till the 'Bahuda Yatra' (return car festival), which is scheduled for July 5 this year. Millions of people join the procession to pull the chariots. BJD chief and ex-CM Naveen Patnak, who is now Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly, took to social media to slam the government's 'incompetence' in conducting the Puri Rath Yatra. 'The stampede, which occurred just a day after the abysmal failure to manage crowds during the Rath Yatra, exposes the government's glaring incompetence in ensuring a peaceful festival for the devotees,' he said in an X post on Sunday. Calling the incident a 'man-made disaster', the Congress slammed the Majhi government, accusing it of 'prioritising VVIP movements during the event over safety of common people'. Despite attacks from the Opposition, state law minister Prithviraj Harichandran tried to justify the delay claiming 'everything happens according to the Lord's wish'. After the procession reached the Gundicha Temple, Harichandran said the Yatra had been 'incident-free'. Hours after his remarks, a swelling crowd advanced towards the chariots around 4 am on Sunday leading to a stampede. Making matters worse, two vehicles carrying materials for the rituals entered the spot. Eyewitnesses said the ensuing 'chaos' lasted for 20 minutes, claiming there were no policemen or senior officials to help the devotees. With no system in place for ambulances to move freely, relatives of the devotees pulled out the injured from the crowd and shifted them to hospitals. 'My wife and others would have been saved had there been arrangements for the smooth movement of ambulances,' said the husband of a deceased woman. Almost immediately after the stampede, CM Majhi ordered an administrative probe, shunted out the Collector and SP of Puri and suspended two senior police officers for 'dereliction of duty'. He also apologised to the devotees, indicating the sensitivity of the issue. A major administrative shake-up has also been initiated with a senior bureaucrat and a police officer, who have prior experience of handling the Rath Yatra, being roped in to supervise the remaining event. The move is being seen as the government's effort to restore the people's faith in the administration. While the probe is scheduled to be completed in a month, preliminary reports suggest lack of coordination between administrative wings, poor planning by the police and deploying inexperienced officers to manage the situation led to the incident. State BJP chief Manmohan Samal expressed concern over the incident but said the state government 'took the right decision at the right time'. 'We will be careful to ensure that such incidents do not recur,' he said.
New Indian Express
19 hours ago
- New Indian Express
CM Mohan Majhi takes charge of remaining Rath Yatra rituals
PURI: With the Rath Yatra this year marred by serious security lapses which even led to loss of three lives in a stampede near Gundicha temple, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has taken matters into his own hands. As the Bahuda Yatra (return journey) of the holy Trinity is to be held on July 5 with expected turnout of lakhs of devotees, Majhi on Tuesday chaired two separate high-level meetings with senior officials of the state government and servitors of Srimandir to ensure that the events are incident-free. Taking responsibility of monitoring the remaining rituals of the nine-day-long car festival, he sent a stern message to officials in charge directing them to follow security protocols in letter and spirit. There will be zero tolerance to any lapses, he warned. 'I am deeply shocked by the unfortunate incidents that took place during the first three days of the Rath Yatra. I have entrusted development commissioner Anu Garg to investigate them,' Majhi told mediapersons after the meeting. He said, 'Our main aim is to conduct the remaining rituals - Hera Panchami, Bahuda Yatra, Suna Besha, Adharpana and Niladri Bije smoothly. A large number of devotees are expected, especially for Suna Besha, due to favourable weather conditions. It is therefore crucial to manage security arrangements effectively and be prepared for any untoward incident.' The chief minister said the administration has made elaborate arrangements for the timely observance of rituals and hassle-free darshan of deities. He has specifically directed the administration to provide adequate facilities to devotees for darshan of the deities during these major rituals.
Hans India
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Hans India
CM visits Puri to review Rath Yatra arrangements
Puri: Following the death of three devotees in a stampede near Shree Gundicha temple in Puri, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday went to the pilgrim town to review the arrangements made for the upcoming rituals related to Rath Yatra. After the stampede on Sunday, the Chief Minister himself issued an apology to the devotees. Majhi now wants to make sure that the remaining rituals, such as 'Bahuda Yatra' (return car festival), 'Suna Besha' (golden attire) and 'Niladri Bije' (deities' entry to main temple) are completed smoothly. Ahead of the Chief Minister's visit, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan held a marathon discussion with the senior servitors and listened to their grievances, like restrictions on them to climb the chariots, housing issues and children's education. The Jagannath temple in Puri functions under the Law department of the State government. 'We had a detailed discussion with the Law minister on different issues. The servitors have apprised him of being hurt for not getting permission to climb chariots. The administration allows only on-duty servitors to the chariots. We have demanded that all should be allowed to climb the chariot to have 'darshan' of the deities,' leader of Khuntia servitors Hajari K C Khuntia told reporters. Noting that the servitors have assured the Law minister that they will complete all rituals according to tradition, Khuntia said they are scheduled to meet the Chief Minister. Accompanied by the Law Minister, Majhi is also scheduled to hold a meeting with the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and others to ensure smooth conduct of upcoming events, according to an official. The Chief Minister aims to make the remaining part of the festival incident-free so that lakhs of devotees return home with a 'feel good experience'. Following the stampede incident, the State government has transferred both the District Collector and the SP from Puri and suspended two senior police officers on charges of dereliction of duty. The government also appointed other experienced officers to handle the Rath Yatra affairs. Meanwhile, Development Commissioner Anu Garg began the administrative inquiry into the stampede on Monday. She is mandated to submit the inquiry report within 30 days.
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Set up real-time crowd estimate, new security SOPs: Majhi
1 2 Bhubaneswar: Two days after a stampede outside the Gundicha temple left three devotees dead and the govt coming under fire, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday announced setting up of a real-time crowd estimate system and stronger security SOPs to prevent future disasters. The annual Rath Yatra festival will conclude on July 8. Majhi, who had earlier expressed his deep regret and offered heartfelt apologies to Jagannath devotees over the stampede, visited Puri and conducted separate meetings with senior administrative officials, including chief secretary Manoj Ahuja and director general of police Y B Khurania, along with temple servitors. Majhi issued directives to authorities, ahead of significant events, including Sandhya Darshan (July 4), Bahuda Yatra (July 5), Suna Besha (July 6), and Niladri Bije (July 8) - all of which traditionally draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. "Extensive discussions have been conducted to ensure that the forthcoming ceremonies proceed without any unpleasant incident. We have implemented robust measures to address the challenges encountered during the last few days," Majhi said. The chief minister instructed the DGP to step up vigilance regarding crowd management and devotee security. He mandated the deployment of substantial police personnel, along with adequate ambulance services and emergency response units to handle any unforeseen circumstances effectively. "We anticipate massive gatherings of devotees in the coming days. We have assigned new collector, SP and other experienced officials to effectively oversee the Rath Yatra arrangements," said Majhi, who also conducted a separate consultation with servitors, seeking their vital cooperation for an incident-free festival. Earlier, law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan engaged in detailed discussions with servitors, requesting their support for the orderly conduct of the Rath Yatra's concluding ceremonies. During these discussions, servitors expressed their disappointment, alleging that certain temple officials had branded them as 'unauthorized and ineligible' during Friday's Rath Yatra, thereby preventing their traditional access to the sacred chariots. "I have taken serious note of this unfortunate incident and extended my sincere apologies to the servitors," Harichandan said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
