All works are over at Shri Jagannath Temple in Gayatri Nagar, Raipur in advance of the grand Jagannath Rath Yatra. The annual festival will start on July 16, with the arrival of Lord Jagannath with help of elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, who will make a ceremonial trip around the town on ornately decorated chariots. The journey back home will be on July 24 which is called Bahuda Yatra.
Prior to the Pathakrafta, the sacred Netrotsav ritual will be performed at the temple with the acceptance of the deities’ eyes to open at 6 PM on July 14.
At a press conference, Purandar Mishra, MLA and founder-president of Shri Jagannath Temple Seva Samiti, stated that the Chhattisgarh Governor, Ramen Deka and the Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai, will undertake the traditional Chhera Pahara ritual by sweeping the path in front of the chariots with a golden broom. The ritual is created to convey the concepts of humility, equality and sacrifice in service to the Lord. Assembly Speaker Dr Raman Singh along with some representatives, the saints and thousands of devotees are likely to be present.
Mishra said that Rath Yatra was a rare event where Lord Jagannath comes out of the temple directly for once in a year to bless the devotees. Special Vedic rituals, Abhishek and Havan will start on the day of the procession at 11 AM. The deities will be ceremoniously bathed with sandalwood, saffron, musk and camphor and will be seated on their chariots in the midst of Vedic chants and conch shells and devotion music thereby offering the traditional Gajamung Mahaprasad.