Ratha Yatra: Lakhs of devotees from throughout the nation and overseas are anticipated to take part within the occasion. About one lakh have reached Puri by Thursday night, police sources mentioned.
The pilgrim city of Puri is all set to host the Rath Yatra pageant on Friday with the administration being able to easily conduct the occasion. The civil and police administrations are on excessive alert as lakhs of devotees will witness the annual occasion beneath tight safety.
“By the grace of Mahaprabhu (Lord Jagannath), we’re totally ready to conduct a clean Rath Yatra on Friday. We’re getting full assist and cooperation from the servitors. All preparations are in place to make the mega occasion profitable,” Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee mentioned on Thursday.
Puri Rath Yatra: Examine chariot pulling timing
After completion of all rituals, the pulling of chariots of the sibling deities – Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath – will start at 4 pm.
Lakhs of devotees from throughout the nation and overseas are anticipated to take part within the occasion. About one lakh have reached Puri by Thursday night, police sources mentioned.
A few of them had the chance to witness the ‘Nabajouban Darshan” (youthful look) of the trinity.
The deities appeared earlier than the devotees after a fortnight. The general public ‘darshan’ was stopped after the showering ritual on June 11.
Elaborate safety preparations in place
Conserving in view the massive footfall, Odisha DGP Y B Khurania mentioned elaborate safety preparations have been made for the occasion.
The city is closely fortified with deployment of roughly 10,000 safety personnel, together with eight corporations of Central Armed Police Forces.
Khurania mentioned that for the primary time, an Built-in Command and Management Centre has been opened in Puri to watch the whole pageant from shut quarters.
Over 275 AI-enabled CCTV cameras have been put in throughout Puri and on the roads to Konark, 35 km away and well-known for the Thirteenth-century Solar Temple, for surveillance.
This aside, the DGP mentioned that the Nationwide Safety Guard (NSG) snipers will take positions on rooftops alongside Grand Highway in entrance of the temple.
Drones, bomb squads, canine squads deployed
Police drones, anti-sabotage groups, bomb squads, and canine squads are additionally deployed. The Marine Police, Coast Guard, and Indian Navy will safe the seafront, he mentioned.
In the meantime, IMD in its night bulletin forecast mentioned thunderstorms with lightning with gusty floor wind pace reaching 30-40 kmph more likely to happen in a number of districts together with Puri on Friday. Whereas the Indian Railways runs 365 trains to Puri, the Odisha authorities has engaged round 800 buses to move devotees from totally different districts.
(With inputs from PTI)