Preparations for Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, which will be held without the participation of devotees on Monday, are underway in Odisha’s Puri. This is the second year in a row that devotees have been barred from the yatra and district administration imposed has curfew from 8 PM of Sunday for two days, official sources said.

The administration imposed curbs across the 3-km long Grand Road from Shree Jagannath Temple to Sri Gunducha Temple where all activities excluding medical emergencies are prohibited.

As many as 65 platoons (1 platoon comprise 30 personnel) were deployed for the smooth conduct of the Lords annual festival amidst prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.

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Pulling of the holy chariots will start at 3 pm Monday.

The security forces will also be deployed on the roof tops of different buildings on both sides of the grand road in order to ensure that people do not congregate in large number to witness the festival from the residential houses, hotels, lodges and guest houses.

Puri district collector Samarth Verma said that the people are urged not to come out of their residences during the curfew period from 8 PM of Sunday till 8 PM of Tuesday and make crowd on the grand road.

As the three chariots- Lord Balabhadras Taladwaja, Lord Jagannaths Nadighosh and Devi Subhadras Darpadalan, are ready to roll on the grand road, Director General of Police, Abhay reviewed the security arrangements and he too appealed all including the people of Puri to cooperate in implementation of the curfew orders in public interest.

“With the cooperation of the residents of Puri and blessing of Lord Jagannath, all the rituals are underway smoothly so far. We hope the mega festival will be undertaken tomorrow peacefully in compliance with all SOPs,” said Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.

He said all the lanes and by-lanes in Puri town are barricaded and adequate police forces have been deployed.

All the entry point to Puri town have been sealed to ensure none can enter the grand road when the festival is going on.

Earlier in the day, the three gigantic chariots were pulled to the Lion Gate (Singhadwara) of Srimandir after the ‘Agyan Mala’ (order from the Lord) reached Ratha Khala.

SJTA chief said only servitors will be allowed to pull the chariots and nobody other including security personnel will be allowed to touch the ropes.

The chariot pulling is scheduled to start from 3 PM of Monday after the Puri king, Gajapati Maharaja Divyasngha Deb perform the rituals of Chhera Pahra (sweeping of chariot).

The procession of the sibling deities will begin at 8 am, he said adding that the programme may be advanced as the servitors are fully cooperating with the administration.

About 8,000 people including servitors, securitymen, SJTA officials,district administration officials, media persons and others have undergone RT-PCR test before the festival.

“Only COVID-19 negative persons will be allowed to participate in the festival,” he said.

As maintaining social distancing may not be possible in such a mega festival as more peoples participation is required for procession of the deities, the administration has ensured that only COVId-19 negative persons and those fully vaccinated be allowed to take part, an official said.

The arrangements have been made for providing health care to for the servitors who will pull the chariots. A green corridor is created for the emergency situation, he said.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Kendrapada Sunday also imposed prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC to ensure smooth conduct of the Rath Jatra rituals inside the temple.

The prohibitory order is imposed from 9 PM of Sunday till 9 PM of Monday along the Bada Danda in order to prevent people entering Shree Baladevjew temple area.

The order is significant in view of the growing demand for conduct of Rath Jatra in Kendrapara also as done in Puri adhering to the COVID-19 protocol.