Puri: The “Ratha Katha Anukula” ritual for the world famous Ratha Yatra 2024 will be held today in Puri. The ritual is commenced every year on the occasion of Saraswati Puja (Basant Panchami).
According to sources, the ritual will be held in Puri in the evening. As many as 102 wood logs have already arrived to the Sri Jagannath Puri. Adding to it, there are 53 pieces of wood leftover from the previous year. Around 747 wooden logs are required for the construction of three chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Goddess Subhadra for the annual Rath Yatra festival this year.
As per the rituals, the Raj Purohit and the Brahmins will worship the three pieces of wood logs near Maa Saraswati. Later on Ram Navami, the ritual for the beginning of woodcutting for the chariots of Puri Ratha Yatra will take place.
According to tradition, the first logs should arrive at Puri for construction of chariots for Ratha Yatra before Saraswati Puja. It is worth mentioning here that Rath Yatra is scheduled to take place on July 7, 2024.
Further it is worth mentioning that, devotees will be allowed to enter the Shree Gundicha temple from the Rath Yatra 2024, informed chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Das in November, 2023.
While speaking to the reporters after a meeting in this regard with the concerned officials, Das said that the Shree Gundicha Temple’s developmental work will begin soon and it is most likely to take five to six months to complete.
Developmental work at the Shree Gundicha Temple includes the kitchen of the temple, the place where vegetables are cut, the place where people have Prasad and the path on which deities are taken in pahandi, he added.
Ms Kalinga