The grand and historic Rath Yatra of lord Jagannath will be taken out from Jagannath temple at Gayatri Nagar in the city on Sunday (June 29).The procession which is participated by scores of devotees will commence from Shri Jagannath temple in Gayatri Nagar and culminate at Gundicha temple.
Preparations are in full swing and special arrangements have been made for distribution of Mahaprasad for people participating in the festival.
Former Governor Shekhar Dutt, Chief Minister Raman Singh and his wife Veena Singh, MP and former Union Minister Ramesh Bais, Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, PWD Minister Rajesh Munat, BJP leader Rampratap Singh, Mayor Kiranmayi Nayak and other prominent personalities and citizens have been invited for the Rath yatra .
Talking to media persons, the Founder President of Shri Jagannath (Mandir) Sewa Samiti , Purander Mishra said that in Puri three separate chariots are prepared for lord Jagannath, lord Balram and Devi Subhadra and pulled by thousands of disciples. Other than Puri, Raipur is the only place which has the privilege of taking out the Rath Yatra .
The Chariot (Rath) of lord Jagannath is called Nandi Ghosh while the chariot of lord Balram Dauji is called Taldhwaj. The chariot of Devi Subhadra is called Devdalan Rath. On the occasion of Rath Yatra, as many as 11 priests will perform special Abhishek, Puja and Havan and clean the chariot with Chandan, Kesar, Kasturi and Kapur. Thereafter the lord is offered Ganjamung.
According to the pre-decided programme, the invited guests will perform Havan and thereafter perform ‘Chherapanhra” (the ceremonial sweeping of the floor of the chariot by a golden broom). This will be followed by Puja, Mahaprasad distribution, final pulling of the ropes to move the chariot. The procession will start from Shri Jagannath temple in Gayatri Nagar and culminate at Gundicha temple.‘The Samiti has made special arrangements for distribution of mahaprasad in view of huge crowd expected on the festival,” said Mishra.