Gaiety marks Rath Yatra in Vizag

Visakhapatnam Tremendous enthusiasm marked this year's annual Rath Yatra, which was taken out by hundreds of devotees in Visakhapatnam on Friday after a gap of two years.

Lord Jagannath and his siblings go on a sojourn from the sanctum santorum to their aunt's place once a year to enable people to have their darshan. Lord Jagannath gives darshan during the sojourn in various avatars.

Heavy crowds were seen at the chariot festival organised by Sri Jaganathaswamy temple of Old Town and Utkal Sanskrutika.

The colourfully decorated chariot was pulled at various places after sweeping of floor by member of royal family or a VIP to send the message that all are equal before the Almighty.

A ritual called 'Pahandi Bije' was observed after the traditional 'Chhera Pahanra' (cleaning of the chariot) by Lal Saheb Pramod Bhanja Deo, member of erstwhile Daspalla royalty, in the colourful chariot amid chanting of kirtans and Vedic hymns, music and chanting at the ceremony performed by Utkal Sanskrutika Samaj.

The ritual was observed by Jagannathaswamy Temple and temple committee of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant at Ukkunagaram.

ISKCON distributed prasadam to several hundred devotees after organising Rath Yatra.