The first day of the Baripada Rath Yatra passed off peacefully on Sunday. While the Taladhwaj Rath of lord Balabhadra completed its journey to the Mausi Badi, the Darpadalan of Devi Subhadra waited halfway by Sunday evening.
As has been the custom here, lord Jagannath will begin and complete His journey to Mausi Maa Mandir on Monday.
Amidst chanting of Jay Jagannath, the devotees began pulling the chariot of Balabhadra at about 2.45 pm and made him reach Mausi Badi at about 4.17 pm. Afterwards Devi Subhadra began her journey at about 5.05 pm and after covering half the distance, her chariot Darpadalan stopped in front of the local Bada Bazar Town Police Station at about 5.40 pm. She stayed there half-way for a night halt.
Over a lakh of devotees took part in Sunday’s celebrations. Prominent among those who participated in the pulling of chariots include Additional DIG (Eastern Zone) Amitendra Nath Sinha, Mayurbhanj district Collector Vineet Bharadwaj, Mayurbhanj SP Avinash Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP Sarojini Hembram, Assembly Deputy Speaker Sananda Marandi, ADMs Gangadhar Nayak and Brajabandhu Bhol and Baripada Sub-Collector Mohammad Abdul Akhtar.
Notably, despite the presence of a large number of Jagannath-Bhakts, no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the town. lord Jagannath’s Nandighosh Rath is going to start its journey on the Badadanda of the second Shrikshetra here on Monday.