Most devotees of lord Jagannath are unaware that the special brakes used in the three chariots of Puri during Rath Yatra for safe riding are an innovation of a Brajrajnagar-based engineer.
Aswini Mishra, who works as an engineer with lajkura Opencast Project of MCl, had proposed the system to Shri Jagannath Temple Administration in 2008. later, with the temple administration’s approval, the system was installed in the chariots of lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and lord Subhadra.
According to Mishra, the brake is prepared with three wooden pieces of 2-foot length and 2-foot width for the chariots. These three pieces are made up of Sal wood of 16.2 feet, 16.4 feet and 16.6 feet.
Further, a nilon rubber belt is fitted in the wooden pieces with the support of some iron thorns of around 30 kg. When the chariots are in motion, two persons remain over and two below the chariots. These brakes are then placed on the chariots with the help of pulley.
The brakes are applied to check the motion of the chariots when needed. Over the years, the system has proved very effective to check accidents which were rather common every year.
This year, Aswini Mishra was supported by Prasant Benia, Trilochan Badhei and Dhaniram Bag to make the brakes. They volunteered to provide their services at the yatra on their own.