Rath Yatra with the longest route of chariot pulling in the State took place in Jajpur district. The 11-km journey from Chhatia to Badaghumari began on Saturday with a large number of devotees participating in it. It will reach its destination in two days.
Flagged off by chief priest of the Chhatia temple Upendra Ojha on Saturday afternoon amidst chanting of hymns and beating of traditional musical instruments, the Rath rolled on the national highway- 5, besides on congested village roads. The chariot halted at many places and a large number of devotees worshipped the deities, lord Jaganath, Balabhadra and Subhadra.
"Earlier, the authority had denied us the permission for the chariot to cover 14 km due to bad condition of roads. But in 1999, the authority for the first time allowed the temple management committee to pull the chariot covering 14 km after the authority constructed and widened the village roads," said Ojha.
The villagers and the managing committee members of the temple had cleaned the village roads for the smooth journey of the chariot. In the past, chariot struck at some places due to poor condition of the road. But thanks to the Prime Minister’s village road project, all the village roads are now concrete for which chariot was pulled by devotees smoothly, said local sarapanch and Rath Yatra Committe secretary Sachi Samantray.
Notably, there is a belief here that the Puri deities will one day arrive in Chhatia and worshipped here after the Puri temple gets submerged in water of the marauding sea.