New Delhi: 55th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath was celebrated at Thyagraj Nagar Shri Jagannath Mandir with traditional fervor and gaiety on 1st July 2022. The celebration started at 4.30 am with Mangal Arati of the four Deities, namely Lord Jagannath, Brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra and Shri Sudarshan, The Yatra of Lord Jaganath has been associated with special ritual called “Pahandi Bije” at 11.00 am. Through the ritual, the four Deities wee lovingly swing out of the temple one by one by the devotees and Pandas of the Mandir and they were installed on the designated platform on the Rath. Another special ritual called “Chhera Panhara” was performed by the Parton of the Mandir, Shri Sudhakar Mohapatra, Ex- Director, Oil India Ltd. Symbolically brooming the Rath to indicate that all are equal before the Lord, be he ruler or ruled.
Thyagraj Mandir is one of the oldest Mandir of Delhi and NCR which has been celebrating Rath Yatra every year regularly for the past 54 years. Even during Covid -19 period, Rath Yatra was celebrated in the year 2020-2021 inside Mandir premises without the presence of the devotees.
All the rituals associated with Lord Jagannath have been observed in the Mandir consonance with the rituals followed in main Shrine of Lord Jagannath at Puridham. About 15-20 thousand devotees attended the celebration and participating in the “pulling of chariot’’ which began at 3.0 pm . The Rath passed through peacefully Shri Jagannath Marg ( Bada Danda), INA Market, Kashmir Market, Rajya Sabha Employees Residential Complex and returned to the Mausi Maa Mandir which is housed within the temple complex.
Important dignitaries who attended and participated in the festival are ,Shri Manish Sisodia, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture and also the Local M.P. ( Lok Sabha), Shri Ravindra Choudhury, Ex- Chairman MCD , Smt. Seema Mallik, Hon’ble Councilor , Kasturaba Nagar, Smt. Savita, Gupta, Ex- Mayor, Delhi, Smt. Kusumlata , Ex- Councilor , , Shri Pradeep Pahlwan , Spokesperson, Delhi BJP, Shri Madan Lal, Hon’ble M.L.A. , Govt of NCT, Delhi, attended the celebration and participated in the ‘’Chariot Pulling Ceremony’’. A number of senior Govt. Officers also graced the occasion.
The Mandir Management made elaborated arrangements for smooth and hassle free darshan of the Deities and civic facilities like drinking water, refreshment, ambulance for emergency cases, sprinkling of water on the devotees against heat and humidity in collaboration with many voluntary organizations, Odisha Sanskrutik Sangathan, INA Market Traders Association. The entire security arrangement was done by Delhi Police with the cooperation of Madan Lal, Division Warden (South East) & F. M Gouri of Delhi Civil Defence Services. The festival was celebrated under Covid-19 Govt. guidelines and Mandir distributed free Mask to the devotees and taken the utmost care for the sanitations and hygienicses of the entire procession.
The rath Yatra procession was completed under direct supervision of K.D. Biswal – General Secretary, D.N. Sahoo – Vice President, Pradyumna Palai and Pranati Biswal & other office bearers who were present were Pradeep Pradhan, Mahendra Barik, Gyan Ranjan Nayak, Bijayanand Samal, Abhay Palai, Pravat Acharya, Sushant Swain, Bigneswar Biswal, Gajendra Sahoo, Akshay Nayak.
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