Jharkhand: Jagannathpur prepares for Rath Yatra, mela after 2 years

RANCHI: Qutubuddin Ansari, a native of Sisai in Gumla, was busy marshalling his team members who were running against time to set up a giant 'Maut Ka Kuan' - a popular attraction in rural fairs where bikers leave the audience spellbound by performing gravity defying stunts in a well-made frame of wood and steel.
Ansari, who has been putting up such shows during the Jagannathpur Mela in Ranchi's Dhurwa area since 1998, was nearly broke as the Jharkhand government prohibited fairs with the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Talking to TOI on Tuesday, he said, "I had to let all my stunt drivers and workers go as I could not pay them anymore. Now, with the fair resuming, I hope to make some money and give work to my fellow team members."
Anath Banerjee, a sweets vendor and native of Jhalda in West Bengal's Purulia district, arrived in the city three days ago for the fair. He said, "I have been selling sweets at the Jagannath Mela here for over 15 years now. The last two years were very difficult for me as I had no income. I am neck-deep in debt. I now hope that the business is good this year so that I can repay the mahajan (money lender)."
Banerjee, who was eating food under a makeshift tent, said the place would be his sweet shop-cum-home for the next fortnight.
Ansari and Banerjee are among the hundreds of small-time traders from different parts of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal who have converged in Dhurwa to make money during the upcoming mela, which is due to begin this Friday. The 2-km stretch from the foot of the Jagannath temple to the Mausi Bari temple is full of makeshift shops selling all kinds of stuff to draw customers.
A couple of hundred metres away from the temple hill, Dhurwa resident Naresh Lohra is giving final touches to the newly built chariot of the three deities. "Every year, we make little money by preparing the chariot. A new one has been built this year for Rs 40 lakh. Hopefully, the temple committee will give me a good bakshish (incentive) this year," Lohra said.
With Rath Yatra festivities to resume after two years in the state, the four-century-old temple has also been given a fresh coat of paint. "We are very happy that the state government has allowed us to take out the Rath Yatra this year. In the past two years, chief minister Hemant Soren used to come on the day of the festival and pray to the lord for forgiveness as his government could not allow the yatra to be undertaken because of the pandemic. It was a very moving gesture on his part," said Rameshwar Padhi, the temple's chief priest.