Chariot procession, ‘aarti' mark first day of Jagannath Rath Yatra
Varanasi: With the boarding of the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra, and Subhadra on a palanquin at Assi temple for the 'nagar bhraman' (city tour) on Thursday late afternoon, the five-day Rath Yatra festival celebrations started in the city.
Following a night stay at Beniram Bagh, the deities will boarded onto the 'rath' (chariot) on Friday morning.
Amidst tight security arrangements, the traditional chariot procession of deities started from Assi temple. According to organisers, Rath Yatra Mela is one such rare festival when gods come out of their sanctum sanctorum and make a tour of the city to meet their devotees. Before reaching Beniram Bagh at night, aartis of deities were also performed at many places.
For this Rath Yatra Mela, which is considered a replica of Puri's Rath Yatra and celebrated annually in Kashi since 1802, makeshift shops of colourful artefacts, handicrafts, toys and balloons, as well as the special attractions—the seasonal cookie shops called 'nankhatai'—mushroomed in the yatra area and roads leading to it.
While a temporary control room for over 80 CCTV cameras installed to monitor the fair area was set up, the deployment of a heavy police force at the Rath Yatra area also started by Thursday late night.
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In view of the fair, the route diversion plan also became effective. ADCP (traffic) Anshuman Mishra said that this arrangement will be in effect daily between 4 pm and 3 am until June 30. As per the diversion plan, vehicles coming from BHU and Bhelupur towards Rath Yatra will be diverted from Kamachha to reach their destination via Akashvani and Mahmoorganj.
Vehicles heading from Luxa to Rath Yatra will be redirected from Gurubagh intersection towards Neemamai intersection.
They will reach their destination via Kamachha. Vehicles travelling from Sigra to Rath Yatra will be diverted from Sigra crossing towards Mahmoorganj and Sonia police post. Vehicles from Mahmoorganj heading to the yatra will be redirected from Akashvani intersection towards Sigra. Ambulances and funeral vehicles will be exempt from this restriction.
Heavy vehicles towards Manduadih will reach via Mohansarai, Rohania, Chandpur, and Mudhela after the no-entry is lifted. Similarly, heavy vehicles heading to Sigra can proceed via Mohansarai, Rohania, Chandpur, Lahartara, Dharamshala, Englishia Line, and Maldahiya, while vehicles from Sigra to Harhua or Babatpur can reach their destination via Sigra, Maldahiya, Chowkaghat, Tadi Khana, Police Line intersection, Bhojubir, Gilat Bazaar, Tarna, and Harhua after the no-entry is lifted.
There will be a complete ban on vehicles coming from Manduadih to Akashvani and Rath Yatra crossings.
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