The longest journey of chariot covering 11 km is from Chhatia to Badaghumari in Jajpur district. This is the longest journey of the chariot in the State and it takes five days. large numbers of people pull the chariot on the occasion of the annual Rath Yatra.
Flagged off by temple chief priest Upendra Ojha on Saturday afternoon amidst chanting of hymns, the Rath rolled on a 11-km-long route through the national highway no- 5 and congested village roads this Rath Yatra.
The chariot halted at many places and large numbers of devotees worshipped lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and Maa 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 years after the authority constructed and widened the village road," 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 NH-5.
"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 PMGSY, all the village roads are now concrete for which the chariot was pulled by devotees smoothly," said the Sarapanch of Chhatia gram panchayat.