Rath Yatra Begins Today In Puri With No Devotees In Wake Of COVID-19

Rath Yatra celebration, an annual celebration for lord Jagganath in Puri started from today, the 12th of July.  Once again amid the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) devotees are not allowed to be a part of the massive Rath Yatra event.

In addition, the temple authority arranged tight security, following all the guidelines of the Wuhan virus, also known as the Novel Coronavirus. Multilayered security arrangements and mandatory adherence to social distancing norms are in place for the smooth conduct of Lord Jagannath’s annual Rath Yatra.

With this, it would be the second consecutive year when all the devotees would not be a part of the celebration. Only those servitors who test negative for Covid-19 would be allowed to participate in pulling of the chariots in the wake of the pandemic.  The administration has completely restricted activities excluding medical emergencies across the 3-km long Grand Road from Shree Jagannath Temple to Sri Gunducha Temple. Besides, the state police has also deployed 65 platoons (1 platoon comprise 30 personnel) of force along with senior officers to avoid any untoward incident. 

Thing to know about Rath Yatra 2021:

  • Pulling of the holy chariots will start at 3 pm, Monday after the Puri king, Gajapati Maharaja Divyasngha Deb performs the rituals of Chhera Pahra (sweeping of chariot).
  • All the lanes and by-lanes in Puri town are barricaded and adequate police forces have been deployed. All the entry points to Puri town have been sealed to ensure none can enter the grand road when the festival is going on.
  • Puri is currently under a 48-hour curfew. The restrictions will remain in place till July 13.
  • No tourist or devotee will be allowed in hotels, dharamshalas, and guest houses of the Grand Road.
  • For emergency services during the Rath Yatra, the Grand Road will be transformed into a gree zone.
  • No shop or essential activity will be allowed on Grand Road. Only those with duty passes for Rath Yatra will be allowed.
  • Security forces will also be deployed on the roof tops of different buildings on both sides of the Grand Road in order to ensure that people do not congregate in large number to witness the festival from the residential houses, hotels, lodges and guest houses.
  • People can witness the festival on their TV sets as the government has made arrangement to give free of cost feed to different channels and web portals.

Mango News Links:

Telegram: https://t.me/mangonewsofficial

Google Play Store: https://bit.ly/2R4cbgN

Apple / iOS Store: https://apple.co/2xEYFJ