Puri: The chariots of holy trinity —Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra— arrived at the Saradhabali near their destination Sri Gundicha temple here in Odisha on Tuesday afternoon.
Lord Balabhadra’s chariot, Taladhwaja, first reached Gundicha temple followed by Devi Subhadra’s Debadalan. At the end, Lord Jagannath’s chariot reached the destination at 5.10 PM.
For the first time ever, the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, also known as “Car festival”, began in absence of devotees in the holy city here.
Hundreds of servitors and police personnel pulled the chariots of three deities as the following the Supreme Court direction.
As per the apex court direction, not more than 500 people including temple servitors and police personnel have been engaged in pulling each of the chariots. They were permitted to do that only after they had tested negative for Covid-19.
The festival marks the annual journey of the three deities — Lord Jagannath and his siblings — from the 12th century Jagannath temple to the Gundicha temple.
The festival ends after nine days when the deities make their way back to the Jagannath temple.
A partial curfew has been imposed in Puri and all the entry points to the town have been sealed since last night.
Ms Kalinga