Today marks as the auspicious day of the beginning of Lord Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra, one of the biggest religious festivals in India. Multiple preparations have been made with the fire and disaster management department, including sanitizing the grand road in Puri Odisha.
The administration ensured that all health guidelines are followed during the festival that is taking place amidst Covid-19. Usually during Lord Jagannath Rath Yatras, over a million devotees unite in Puri. However, due to the Supreme Court’s orders, people will not be allowed to gather for celebrating the festivities.
Headed by CJI SA Bobde, the three-judge bench ordered that each chariot will be pulled by no more than 500 people, including police and officials. There will also be a time interval of 1 hour between pulling of the chariots.
Many ministers expressed their emotions in their tweets.
श्री जगन्नाथ रथ यात्रा के पावन अवसर पर अहमदाबाद के जगन्नाथ मंदिर में मंगला आरती की और महाप्रभु का आशीर्वाद लिया।
जय जगन्नाथ 🙏 pic.twitter.com/eXS3m1Ze3i— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 4, 2019
As the Rath Yatra festivities begins, greetings and best wishes to fellow citizens. May the blessings of Lord Jagannath bring peace, happiness and prosperity to everyone’s lives #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) July 14, 2018
Significance of Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra
The Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatra is a centuries-old festival that takes place in Jagannath Puri, Odisha. The festival celebrates the return of Krishna, also known as Lord Jagannath, along with his siblings, Balarama and Subhadra, to Vrindavan.
Read more about Jagannath Puri temple here.
The festivities are commenced on the Dwitiya Tithi during Shukla Paksha of Ashada month. The Dwitiya Tithi is taking place on June 23rd as per the Gregorian calendar this year.
In this Yatra, Lord Jagannath comes out of his sanctum sanctorum to give Darshan to all his devotees and is believed that the one who becomes the part of the Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, gets rid of all his sins and a chance to go to heaven.
The three deities of Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath, and Devi Subhadra’s chariots will be pulled by the devotees on the grand road while following all the health guidelines provided by the Supreme Court of India.
