National desk, 20 June: Lakhs of people thronged the Lord Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha as the historical Rath Yatra started on Monday. Lord Jagannath is the most revered God particularly in Odisha.
Lord Jagannath also known as Lord Krishna along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra were worshipped during the festival which starts from Snana Purnima.
Lord Jagannath who is believed to be Lord of the Universe, along with his brother Lord Balabhadra and sister, Devi Subhadra start their nine-day sojourn to their aunt’s place at Gundicha Temple in Puri during the Rath Yatra.
The temple administration have decorated the whole centuries old temple with flowers and garlands due to the festival.
Lakhs of devotes throng to Puri every year during the Rath Yatra and it is believed that the Lord Jagannath bless the devotees with good health and prosperity whoever pulls the chariot. The Puri district administration have taken adequate steps to ensure that the devotees can take part in the festival without any problem in the backdrop of the heat in Odissa.
The presiding deities of the temple, Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, with the celestial wheel- Sudarshana Chakra are moved from the temple in a ceremonial procession to their chariots. The huge, colourfully decorated chariots are drawn by multitude of devotees to the Gundicha Temple located two miles away to the North of Puri Jagannath temple.
On their way back from the Gundicha Temple, the three deities stop for a while near the Mausi Maa Temple (Aunt’s abode) and have an offering of the Poda Pitha, which is a special type of pancake supposed to be the deity’s favourite. After a stay of seven days, the deities return to their abode.
It may be mentioned here that every year, the three chariots for the deities are built with some specilalized wood including the trees of phassi, dhausa, etc. A specialist team of carpenters take the lead in selecting the woods as well as to make the chariots