Puri’s Rath Yatra Began Today, PM Modi Greets People

Puri Jagannath Temple Odisha is known as the land of the Lord Jagannath, which literally means the Lord of the Universe

NEW DELHI| This morning Puri’s famous Rath Yatra began as a large number of priests and temple attendants gathered at the Jagannath Temple without devotees in a historic first, a day after the Supreme Court allowed Odisha to hold the seven-day chariot festival in a restricted fashion amid India’s fight against coronavirus.

Visuals shared by ANI a huge crowd could be seen outside the iconic temple decorated for the occasion as they took part in the colourful procession and the priests took the idol of Lord Balabhadra to a chariot. The temple complex was sanitised before the rituals began.

Odisha: Idol of Lord Balabhadra being brought to chariot by priests and 'sevayats' for the Rath Yatra from Jagannath Temple in Puri. pic.twitter.com/EmUbazA63F

— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2020

Prime Minister took to twitter this morning to greet devotees saying: “My heartiest greetings to all of you on the auspicious occasion of Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra. I wish that this journey filled with devotion brings happiness, prosperity, good luck and health to the lives of the countrymen. Jai Jagannath!”

भगवान जगन्नाथ की रथ यात्रा के पावन-पुनीत अवसर पर आप सभी को मेरी हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। मेरी कामना है कि श्रद्धा और भक्ति से भरी यह यात्रा देशवासियों के जीवन में सुख, समृद्धि, सौभाग्य और आरोग्य लेकर आए। जय जगन्नाथ!

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 23, 2020

Lord Jagannatha is regarded as the supreme god and the sovereign monarch of the Odishan empire. Puri Jagannath Temple Odisha is known as the land of the Lord Jagannath, which literally means the Lord of the Universe.

During the celebrations, Lord Jagannath comes out of his sanctum sanctorum so that devotees from different sects and communities can see him. It is said that those who take part in the festivity “earn their passage to the heaven”, according to the temple officials.