CHARIOT MOVES 11 KILOMETERS THE LONGEST JOURNEY OF CHARIOT

BY AKSHYA ROUT

 JAJPUR, JUNE 20 : The longest journey of chariot covering 11 kilometers from Chatia to Badaghumari in Jajpur district . This is thelongest journey of the chariot in the state and it took five days to cover 11 kilometers.

Large numbers of people pulled chariot for five days on the occasion of annual Rath Yatra. Flagged off by the chief priest of the temple Upendra Ojha on Wednesday afternoon amidst chanting of hymns, the Rath wound it’s way on a 11-km-long route through the national highway no- 5 and congested village roads.

The chariot halted at many places and large numbers of devotees worshipped the Lord Jaganath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. ” Earlier, the authority had denied us the permission for the chariot to cover 14 kilometers due to bad condition of road .

 But in 1999, the authority for the first time allowed the temple management committee to pull the chariot covering 14 years after the authority constructed and widened the village road “, said Upendra Ojha the president of the managing committee of the temple.

A huge crowd thronged the temple and then joined the procession as it began its journey under the watchful gaze of police personnel who had spread out through the journey routes including the national highway no- 5. “The villagers and the managing committee members of the temple cleaned the village roads for the smooth journey of the chariot.

In the past, chariot struck at some places due to poor condition of the road . But thanks to the Prime Ministers village road project, all the village rods are now concrete for which chariot was pulled by devotees smoothly” , said Writer Taraprasad Mishra The pedestal of the Jaganath temple at Chatia is empty and each day the priests of the temple worship the empty pedestal of the temple in the  sanctorum  of the temple with a hope that the Lord Jagannath will arrive someday from Puri to Chatia. “Since time immemorial the priests of the temple and large number of devotees have been  waiting for the arrival of the deities.

 As per the tradition of the temple, every day the priests and devotees of the temple do any types of construction works for the imminent arrival of the deities”, said Social Worker Rachita Mishra.

 “We repair the doors, windows and do small construction works in the temple as the construction works will only stop after the arrival of the Lord Jaganath from Puri to this temple”, said Padmalava Das one of the priests of the temple. Some scientists and environmentalists linked the predication of the submerge of the Jagannath temple in the sea at Puri by Achutananda Das to global warming and the rise of sea level.