Rath Yatra 2025: Aarti Of Lord Jagannath Performed As Chariot Pulling Resumes On Day 2
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Lakhs of devotees are in Odisha's Puri for Lord Jagannath's annual Rath Yatra, which commenced on Friday, June 27.
Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra 2025: The chariot pulling of the Trinity deities— Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra— resumed on second day of the festival on Saturday.
Lakhs of devotees are in Odisha's Puri for Lord Jagannath's annual Rath Yatra, which commenced on Friday, June 27.
Thousands of people pulled the ropes attached with chariots of Lord Jagannath and his siblings on a road from near the 12th-century shrine towards Shree Gundicha temple, around 2.6 km away.
During the festival, the devotees draw the grand chariots of the three deities to the Gundicha Temple, where the deities reside for a week and then return to the Jagannath Temple.
#WATCH | Odisha: Lakhs of devotees take part in pulling the chariots at Shri Jagannath #RathYatra in Puri. pic.twitter.com/mJgPmivMex — ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2025
On Saturday, the priests and devotees performed the aarti of the three deities, who were seated on their grand chariots.
#WATCH | Puri, Odisha: Aarti of Lord Shri Jagannath, seated on the chariot, was performed this morning. #RathYatra (Video Source: Shree Jagannatha Temple, Puri/ 'X') pic.twitter.com/uluwPlG0gT
— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2025
On Friday, Lord Jagannath's chariot, Nandighosh, was halted shortly around 7:45 pm after the rolling began. It was only symbolically pulled as part of the ritual and remained parked near the main temple. While Lord Balabhadra's chariot came to a halt at Balagandi Chhak, Devi Subhadra's Darpadalan was stopped at Marichkote.
Amid the chants of ' Jai Jagannath" and ' Hari Bol", beating of cymbals and blowing of trumpets and conch shells, the 'Taladwaja' chariot of Lord Balabhadra first started rolling at 4:08 PM. It was followed by Devi Subhadra's 'Darpadalan' chariot and finally Lord Jagannath's 'Nandighosh'.
The chariot pulling started after Puri's titular king, Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingha Deb, performed 'Chhera Pahanra' (sweeping of chariots) on all three chariots.
Wooden horses of different colours were fitted on three chariots before they were pulled by the devotees.
Over 580 Injured Due To Heavy Crowd
More than 500 devotees were injured during the annual Rath Yatra festival in Odisha's Puri, after massive crowds surged forward to pull the chariot of Lord Balabhadra, Kalinga TV reported. The incident reportedly occurred during the ceremonial pulling of the Taladhwaja chariot, one of the three grand chariots drawn as part of the centuries-old tradition.
Responding to reports of devotees fainting during the Jagannath Rath Yatra, Odisha Minister Mukesh Mahaling said the incidents were likely due to high humidity. 'One or two devotees collapsed due to the weather conditions, but rescue teams responded quickly and took them to the hospital," he said.
Security Intensified
As spiritual fervour soars, the entire town of Puri has been placed under a multi-layered security cover to ensure a safe and smooth conduct of the massive festival, which draws lakhs of devotees from around the globe.
To manage the massive footfall and maintain law and order during the Rath Yatra, nearly 10,000 police personnel have been deployed across the town.
The Odisha Police said advanced arrangements, including surveillance through Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled cameras and drone monitoring, have been made to handle the crowd of nearly 15 lakh devotees.
(With inputs from agencies)
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