Here this chariot covers the longest route of 11 km during the Rath Yatra. Also it takes five days to cover the distance.
Flagged off by the chief priest of the temple Upendra Ojha on Thursday afternoon amidst chanting of hymns, the Rath from Chhatia rolled on for its destination at Badaghumari in Jajpur district.
The chariot halted at many places and large numbers of devotees worshipped Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra on the roadsides. " Earlier, the authority had denied us the permission to cover such a long distance due to bad condition of road. But in 1999, the permission was obtained,” said temple Managing Committee president Upendra Ojha.
A huge crowd thronged the temple and then joined the procession as it began its journey under the watchful gaze of police personnel who had spread out through the journey routes including the National Highway 5.
"The villagers and the Managing Committee members of the temple cleaned the designated roads for the smooth journey of the chariot. In the past, chariot used to stick at some places due to poor condition of the road . But thanks to the good PMGSY roads now, chariot rolling has been smooth," said the Sarapanch of Chhatia Gram Panchayat.
Meanwhile, the people here believe that Lord Jagannath from Puri will come to the temple at Chhatia at some time and will be worshipped from here. “As per the tradition of the temple, every day the priests and devotees of the temple do some kinds of construction works for the arrival of the deities from Puri,” said noted social worker Srinibash Jena.
“We repair the doors, windows and do small construction works in the temple as these works will only stop after the arrival of the Lord Jagannath from Puri to this temple,” said Padmalava Das, a priest of the temple.