Puri under curfew for Bahuda Yatra

Bhubaneswar: Puri district came under curfew from Tuesday evening as the government fine-tuned arrangements for smooth conduct of the Bahuda Yatra, the return car festival, without devotees on Wednesday. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court earlier directed for imposition of curfew and zero congregation of devotees during the nine-day Rath Yatra festival, which started on June 23.
Sibling deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, who stayed for seven days in the Gundicha Temple (their birthplace) since the Rath Yatra, are scheduled to start their homebound journey aboard their chariots to Jagannath Temple around 12 pm on Wednesday. The deities, however, will be taken from the chariots into the Jagannath Temple on July 4, marking Niladri Bije.
“All arrangements have been made to the tee. Just as we complied with the Supreme Courts order on Rath Yatra, we will repeat the same arrangements for Bahuda. Devotees will not be allowed to throng the Grand Road or anywhere in Puri. We request devotees to stay in their homes and watch the live telecast of Bahuda on television,” Puri district collector Balwant Singh said.
A few days ago, chief minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the Bahuda preparations and asked the Puri administration to pull out all stops for a hassle-free return car festival. Naveen also laid stress on compliance with the apex court’s directives and engagement of Covid-19 negative servitors and officials in Bahuda Yatra.
“We have subjected over 5,500 persons, including servitors, police personnel, district and Jagannath temple officials to RT-PCR test. Only those, who have tested negative for the virus, will be allowed to discharge their duties. Only the Covid-negative servitors, who were allowed to perform the rituals and pull the chariots on Rath Yatra, will be permitted to participate in Bahuda,” Singh said.
Police said around 70 platoons of force have been deployed to prevent congregation of people during Bahuda. “We have sealed all the entry points to Puri. Barricades have been installed in lanes and bylanes, connecting to the Grand Road to prevent people from thronging the Grand Road. Curfew will be in force till 10 pm of July 2,” additional director general of police (law and order) Soumendra Priyadarshi said.
The temple administration said Bahuda rituals will start at around 4 am. At least 16 rituals will be performed on Bahuda. While 11 types of rituals will be performed inside the Gundicha Temple, five rituals will be conducted on the chariots. The deities will be taken out from the Gundicha Temple onto their chariots in ceremonial Pahandi procession between 8 am and 10 am. Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Singh Deb is scheduled to perform his hereditary “chhera pahanra” (sweeping of the chariot floors) ritual between 10.30 am and 11.30 am. The pulling of chariots is scheduled to start at 12 noon.