The Kukurjanga Car festival has its uniqueness. It goes on for over a couple of weeks with the festive fever in the air. Around 15,000 devotees attended the famous Rath Yatra in western Odisha on Saturday here. It was held in the 800-year-old Jagannath Ashram under the direct supervision of Mahanta Brahmananda Dashji Maharaj.
For Nabakalebar this year, all the formalities like construction of new idols and replacement of Brahma were completed well in time before the festival. On Saturday morning after regular rituals in the temple, the three idols were taken into the chariot. The sweeping ritual was performed by Anil Singh, son of the village head, who was assisted by the committee members and local residents. Thereafter, the chariot was pulled by the devotees with the help of four bamboos instead of ropes as in other places. The pulling was stopped in the evening on Saturday and it again carried out on Sunday. A souvenir was also released for Nabakalebar jointly by MlA Naba Kishore Das and Mahanta Brahmananda Dashji Maharaj.
Similary, Car festivals were also organized in many places like Puruna Basti, Jhhanda Chowk and Marwari Para in usual manner. In Jhhanda Chowk, the devotees brought the idols in a Palki onto the chariot. The festival was held for the first time this year in the newly built Jagannath temple in BTM Colony, Jharsuguda.
The trinity was also taken out for chariot ride at the Jagannath temples of Brajrajnagar, Belpahar, Bandhbahal and Ib Thermal.