As the world famous Rath Yatra of Puri will be held on Sunday with the pilgrim city in a festive mode, the district administration and the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) have made elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the fete.
Over ten lakh devotees are expected to join festival of the lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and Maa Subhadra who would be having a pleasure ride on three well-decorated chariots on the Grand Road.
The lords would go on a nine-day sojourn to their aunt’s house at the Gundicha temple, located about three km along the Grand Road.
After replacement of the axle of the Darpadalan Rath of Maa Subhadra, construction of all the three Ratha was completed and on Saturday evening, all the three chariots were decked with their respective coloured cloths and pulled from the Ratha Khalla (construction site) and placed at the Simhadwar (lion’s Gate) of the temple. Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other Ministers connected with the festival preparations had supervised the arrangements in three meetings while police DGP and other senior officials supervised the security cover.