Neeraj Khujur
Port Blair, July 19: Rath Yatra- the festival of Chariot was celebrated was celebrated with religious fervour at Port Blair alongwith the Temple city of Puri in Odisha and elsewhere in the country yesterday.
Utkal Samaj, Port Blair organised a procession wherein a large number of devotees enthusiastically participated. Devotees were found to throng the Rajasthan Temple premise from early morning to celebrate the festival. After puja and prasad distribution, the deities of the three Gods – Jagannath, Balarram & Devi Subhadra were brought out of the Rajasthan temple premises and instated in the Chariot. The three Gods were then dressed up in gorgeous attire and decorated with flowers.
The procession left the Rajasthan temple premise in the afternoon and the return Rath Yatra will be organised on July 26.
At Diglipur, the 5 day Jagannath Rath Yatra began today with the procession of the Lord Jagannath along with Lord Baldev and their sister Subhadra. The procession started from Radha Gobind temple and travel through Subhash bazar. Huge crowd turned up to pull the Chariot and have glimpses of Lord Jagannath. Good number of Police personnel were deputed throughout the route of the Rath Yatra.
At Billyground, hundreds of devotees of Lord Jagannatha began their puja and aradhana at Billyground Temple from early in the morning. Faithful including children pulled the Rath of Lord Jagannatha. In Radha Govinda Temple Complex of Billyground devotees carried out several rituals in respect of Lord Jagannath Puja.
