For Puri, SC order nothing less than divine intervention

Puri: The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Rath Yatra, albeit in an attenuated form, did not come as a surprise to many in this pilgrim town by the sea. They knew, deep in their hearts, that Lord Jagannath would keep his date with his devotees.
On Monday, Puri — which had fallen silent after the Supreme Court’s earlier order cancelling the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Subhadra and Balabhadra following weeks of speculation — came back to life in the space of the few hours that it took for the apex court to modify its previous order.After agonizing moments of ‘will-it, won’t-it’, the Supreme Court’s nod to a devotee-less Rath brought relief and happiness to residents here, and indeed, across the state.
As the news broke, Puri’s Grand Road — down which the deities will undertake their annual trip to their aunt’s home in the Gundicha Temple, around 3km away from the Jagannath Temple — erupted in joy.
“Lord Jagannath himself performed a miracle. How could anyone imagine stopping the Yatra and the pulling of the chariots?” asked Bijayini Tripathy, an elderly devotee who still seemed to be recovering from the disappointment caused by the June 18 order.
Tears of joy rolled down the faces of the servitors as well. “Ever since the apex court stalled the Rath Yatra, we made all possible effort to pursue the issue with the state and the Centre. We had not lost hope. We had faith in Lord Jagannath and he paved the way for the Rath,” said senior servitor, Durga Dasmohapatra.
Earlier in the day, a number of devotees and organisations lit earthern lamps at different places and conducted puja with the hope of getting a positive order from the Supreme Court. “Our prayers did not go in vain. We are pained that we cannot cheer, chant and dance along with the Raths but we are happy that the Rath Yatra will take place. We are ready to watch the festival on television,” Debasis Das, convener of Srikhetra Swabhiman Mancha, a social organisation, said.
The around 100-odd carpenters who were engaged in the construction of the chariots also heaved a sigh of relief. “Our happiness will know no bounds as Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra board the iconic chariots and visit the Gundicha temple,” said Bijay Mahapatra, chief carpenter of Jagannath’s chariot Nandighosh.
Such is the devotion to the Lord here and so all-pervasive is the cult of the Jagannath in the social and cultural life of Odisha that news of the cancellation of the Yatra, while not unexpected, had sent shockwaves through the state, from Balasore in the north to Koraput in the south. On Monday, devotees, who will be barred from watching the magnificent chariots roll down the Grand Road for the first time in recent history, said they would follow all rules as long as the Yatra itself went on as it has for centuries.
“Bhakta (devotee) and Jagannath are an inseparable part of the Rath Yatra. Covid-19 has triggered a split between the two. But we would have been shattered had the Rath Yatra not happened at all,” said Deepali Mahapatra, a local devotee.