Bahuda Rath Yatra Begins in Puri: Lord Jagannath Returns to Main Temple
The Bahuda Rath Yatra, also known as the Return Car Festival, started on Monday in Puri, Odisha. This event marks the end of the nine-day journey of Lord Jagannath, Goddess Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra from the Gundicha Temple back to the Jagannath Temple.
Pahandi Rituals
The Pahandi rituals began in the morning with Lord Balabhadra, followed by Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath. These rituals are an essential part of the festival, where the deities are carried to their chariots.
Devotees and Security
A large number of devotees gathered to witness and participate in the Yatra. Security was heightened in Puri to ensure the safety of all attendees. Puri Superintendent of Police Pinak Mishra stated, “Security arrangements have also been made for Bahuda Yatra… Adequate security arrangements have been made. Crowd control, dragging of chariot…in addition to that traffic and parking arrangements have been made…we have two integrated control rooms…”
Odisha Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar added, “With the blessings of god, all our arrangements are in place. The police force, police personnel, officers, everybody has taken their position. Mangalarti is going on…All the arrangements like CCTV, force deployment, traffic clearance, crowd control, and quadrant control, are in place, we have checked it. We have done rehearsals also. So today we are not anticipating any problem…”
Security Forces
To ensure the smooth conduct of the Yatra, 180 platoon forces, armed police forces, three companies of RAF, and two companies of CRPF have been deployed.
