BHUBANESWAR: People in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack missed the sight of chariots rolling down the roads yet again during the annual Rath Yatra on Monday due to the Covid-19 situation. For the second successive year the chariot festival was celebrated without the presence of devotees, cultural troupes and processions as temples in the cities observed the rituals inside the premises.
The major crowd-pullers in Bhubaneswar are the raths of the Jagannath Temple at KISS, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) at Nayapalli, Jagannath Temple at Jagamara and the one at Sailashree Vihar. In Cuttack the Jagannath temple in Chandni Chowk, Patitabana temple in Dolomundai and Baldev Jew temple in Ranihat celebrates Rath Yatra with pomp and gaiety. But like the rest of the state, barring the Puri Jagannath Temple, Covid has put curbs on celebration.
“Since the fear and impact of Covid-19 is not completely over, the ISKCON temple is not in favour of taking out Rath Yatra for the safety of devotees,” said Ramakanta Das, spokesperson of ISKCON temple, Bhubaneswar. Every year thousands of devotees assemble to pull the three chariots of the deities from the ISKCON temple in Nayapalli to Mausi Ma temple in Unit-8.
“Every year the nine-day-long Rath Yatra is celebrated in all households in our colony. We feel as if the Lord comes to meet us and visiting the deities three times a day is a must,” said Renubala Das, a resident of Unit-8 government colony.
In normal time, the whole atmosphere would have been filled with joy and happiness and the sight of beaming devotees pulling the chariots of the sibling deities. But there is silence all around and we priests performed the rituals inside the temple. We prayed to the Lord to end the pandemic and save the world,” said Santosh Satpathy, chief priest of Sribani Srikshetra.
The Jagannath Temple in Utkal University campus, Kolathia, and Jagamara also kept the festivities simple and completed the rituals inside the temple premises. The cultural processions and shows like Banati, Odissi dance and Ghoda nacha performed by troupes on the occasion of Rath Yatra were missed this year as well.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday released a special Rath Yatra issue of Utkal Prasanga and Odisha Review. Utkal Prasanga and Odisha Review are two monthly magazines published by the Odisha Information and Public Relations Department to promote art and culture of the State. The Utkal Prasanga is published in Odia and the Odisha Review in English.
