Bhubaneswar: a three-km grand road, facing the magnificent 12th century Jagannath Temple in Puri, soaked in service as a god of brother – Lords Jagannath and Balabhadra and Dewi Subhadra – dressed in all of them at their birthplace to their birthplace Gundicha Temple on Monday, marked the first day of Rath Yatra who was a lot of awaited in the state.
The curfew that was put in place since Sunday night ensured that no single worshiper approached the train, pulled by 1,500 owned servants, the RT-PCR test results had returned negative.
While the state government can claim to have achieved an achievement in ensuring yatra Rath which is appropriate for Covid, it is undeniably that the festival loses glory with the absence of worshipers and tourists.
Grand Road, who used to see lakh worshipers and activity busy every year as long as Rath before Covid struck, saw only a few thousand people on Monday, most of whom were temple servants and police officers and temple administration officials.
High points this year is a ritual settlement on time.
After the appeal was recently by the Head of Minister of Naveen Patnaik, the servants carried out rituals at least three hours before the scheduled time.
In the written appreciation message, Naveen was all praise for servants, police, temples and district officials for peaceful and smooth behavior from Rath Yatra in accordance with the Covid safety protocol.
“I also thank the castle people for their cooperation, hold back and self-discipline.
This will set inspiration for others,” said Naveen’s message.
However, this cannot ease the disappointment of worshipers.
“No one can reduce pain because it cannot have Darshan from Lord Jagannath,” Sanghamitra Mahapa, a Puri resident said.