Aviraal Anand, Lucknow In
the midst of the corona crisis, Lord Jagannath’s rath yatra is scheduled to go on 23 June without devotees. This will be the first time that devotees will not be able to pull the chariot of Lord Jagannath. This time an automated chariot is being arranged by travel committees in the city, whose devotees will be able to see online. Jagannath Rathayatra Chowk President Anurag Dixit said that for the first time an automatic Jagannath Lord’s chariot will be prepared keeping in mind the social distancing, mask and sanitization. The journey will be taken on the traditional route.
The committee’s general minister Sanjeev Jhingran said that devotees will also be able to see the journey online from their homes. There has been a tradition of boating in the past years. The journey of Lord Jagannath was taken on the metro for the first time last year on behalf of Omshree Jagannath Rath Yatra Committee and Sanatan Mahasabha. National President of the General Assembly, Dr. Praveen said that if there is any problem in getting public permission, then an attempt will be made to take out the journey in the metro again.
A letter written to the DM,
Jagannath Rath Yatra is being carried out by Madhav Temple at Daliganj for the last 59 years. The chairman of the committee, Bihari Lal Sahu, has written a letter to the District Magistrate demanding to maintain the tradition of conditional travel. Senior vice-president Bharat Bhushan Gupta has suggested that Lord Jagannath’s palanquin yatra be allowed for city tour.
Waiting for everyone’s permission
The journey of Lord Jagannath in the ancient Charodham temple at Chaupatia is carried out in a silver palanquin. At the same time, the path of the high chariot emanating from the Jagannath temple of Nirala Nagar is cleaned with a silver broom. The traditional journey of Lord Jagannath on a hundred year old chariot by Mahant Shatrughnadas Rath Yatra Committee is taken out from Marwari Gali of Aminabad. The journey is taken on an automatic chariot from the Gaudiya Math of Motinagar. On getting permission from the government, the committees here will also get ready.
