Balasore: Emami Ratha Yatra draws large crowd
The entire atmosphere was charged with spiritual vibration with devotees venting the air with the sounds of haribol and hulahuli.
BY SUDAM PATRA
Bhubaneswar, July 10: Emami Group celebrated Lord Jagannath’s annual Ratha Yatra this year with much gaiety and fanfare. Nearly a lakh devotees from across the state and other provinces, including West Bengal, participated in the Ghosha and Bahuda yatra of the deity held at Emami Nagar, Balgopalpur in Odisha’s Balasore district.
The nine-day festival ended with the deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra returning to their main temple here on Saturday.
The entire atmosphere was charged with spiritual vibration with devotees venting the air with the sounds of haribol and hulahuli.
The devotees pulled the chariot and relished Prasad, the offering given to the deities.
Ashis Abinash Gupta, president of Emami Paper, performed the traditional Chhera Pahanra or sweeping act on the chariot following which the Ratha was pulled.
The nine-day Ratha Yatra was conducted under the direct supervision of chief priest Pradip Mishra.
Kirtan Madalis from Kolkata and other places joined the ceremony. Odia film industry yatra artistes like Sibani Singh, Sanjay Bhola and Bapi Panda were present at Ratha Yatra. They also pulled cart.
Eminent guests like Vice Chancellor of Fakir Mohan University Professor Santosh Tripathy, Balasore Zilla Parishad president Narayan Pradhan, MLA Nilagiri Sukanta Kumar Nayak, SDPO Nilgiri Ritesh Kumar Mohapatra, Oaupada IIC Kamalini Taladi and other were present of this grand festival.
Under the leadership of Remuna officer in charge Ravi Narayan Bhuinya a police team, including traffic, were deployed for safety of mass.
According to the view of PRO Emami paper mill Monaj Kumar Padhi, founder Emami Group Radhashyam Goenka and Radhashyam Agarwal have nominated Sushil Kumar Goenka as their representative and under the leadership of Sushil whole 9-day programs were conducted. Mandir administrator Nikhil Ranjan Das Samantray, Emami Mill vice president Rajesh Kumar Mittal, chief manager Dr. Yousuf Alli Solanki, DGM Debabrata Gotta and others strongly cooperated with Mr Goenka. Everyday around 8000-10000 people took Prasad free of cost.
On the day of Ghosa Yatra, Balasore collector Dattatray Bhausaheb Shinde, Police IG (eastern range) Himansu Lal and SP; Sudhansu Shekhar Mishra also joined the Ratha Yatra.
Emami Jagannath Mandir at Balgopalpur is claimed to be the second highest Jagannath temple in Odisha after Puri.
