large numbers of people pulled chariot on the occasion of the annual Rath Yatra at Chhatia on Sunday. It is the longest journey of chariot covering 11 km from Chatia to Badaghumari in Jajpur district, which takes for five days.
Flagged off by chief priest of the temple Upendra Ojha on Sunday afternoon amidst chanting of hymns, the Rath embarked on an 11-km-long route through the NH 5 and congested village roads.
The chariot halted at many places and large numbers of devotees worshipped the 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 road. 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 road,” said Ojha, who is also the president of the managing committee of the temple.
A huge crowd thronged the temple and then joined the procession as it started under the watchful gaze of the police personnel who had been deployed throughout the journey routes, including the NH.
“The villagers and the managing committee members of the temple 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 village road project, all the village roads are now concrete for which chariot was pulled by devotees smoothly,” said Sarapanch of Chatia Gram Panchayat Nayana Behera.
The pedestal of the Jagannath temple at Chatia is empty and each day, the priests of the temple worship the empty pedestal in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple with a hope that lord Jagannath will arrive someday from Puri to Chatia.
“Since time immemorial the priests of the temple and a large number of devotees have been waiting for the arrival of the deities. As per the tradition of the temple, every day the priests and devotees do some types of construction works for the imminent arrival of the deities,” said noted social worker Dr Suresh Chandra Dalai.
“We repair the doors, windows and do small construction works in the temple as the construction works will only stop after the arrival of lord Jaganath from Puri to this temple,” said Padmalava Das, a priest.