Thousands of devotees pulled the chariots of sibling deities — Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra — on the ‘Bahuda Yatra’ or return car festival on Monday.

Though the pulling of chariots was slated to start at 4 pm, it began ahead of the schedule amid chants of ‘Jai Jagannath’ and beating of cymbals.

Devotees start pulling Lord Balabhdra’s chariot ‘Taladwaja’ at 3.25 pm and Devi Subhadra’s ‘Devadalan’ at 4 pm. Pulling of Lord Jagannath’s chariot ‘Nandighosh’ began at 4.15 pm.

The chariot pulling started after Puri’s titular king ‘Gajapati Maharaj’ Divya Singha Deb performed ‘cheerapahanra’, a ritual during which he swept the three chariots with help of golden broom by sprinkling scared water.

The deities left the Jagannath temple on July 7 during the Rath Yatra and reached Gundicha temple, considered their birthplace. They stayed there for a week and on Monday are now returning to the Jagannath temple. This journey is known as the ‘Bahuda Yatra’.

Earlier, the trinity was ceremonially taken to their respective chariots from the Gundicha Temple in presence of lakhs of devotees.

A total of 180 platoons (1 platoon comprises 30 personnel) of police force and 1,000 officers were deployed to maintain law and order and crowd management during the ‘Bahuda Yatra’.

Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Sanjay Kumar said adequate security arrangements have been made and the entire temple town is under

CCTV surveillance. Around five lakh people are expected to congregate for the festival.