Bahuda Yatra:Thus ends historic car festival of Lord Jagannath.

July 7, 2003

During the return journey, the chariots of Balabhadra and Subhadra are pulled to the Lion's Gate whereas the chariot of Jagannath temporarily parks near the Mausima Temple where he is offered Podapitha (baked cake). Then the chariot of Jagannath halts near the palace of the Puri Raja, His first servant. In the meanwhile goddess Lakshmi decked in Patasari and flowers leaves the store in the temple and comes in a Palanquin to the seven stairs.

Then the Palanquin-bearers carry the Palanquin to the Cahani mandap (Pavilion for view) where from a distance she steals glimpses of the safe return of Jagannath's chariot. Being pleased she is carried near the car of Jagannath while sitting in the Palanquin carried aloft on the shoulders of the Viman Badus. She is offered an Ajnamala (Sacred garland) which Jagannath uses as loving souvenier from her consort. Thus touched aglow, she retires to the temple. This event facilitates Jagannath to make arrangement for His victorious entry to the Temple. The car of Jagannath is pulled to the Simhadvara.

Three cars remain parked there for one day more. On the 11th lunar day (Ekadasi), the deities are offered Adharapana (sweet scented drink made of candy, cheese, banana etc.) and are dressed in gold to mark their valedictory victorious expedition. On the 12th lunar day, after the evening rituals, the deities return to the Temple with the victory trumpet leading the procession. Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken to the Simhasana in goti pahandi whereas Jagannath is left behind.

A Devadasi at the command of Lakshmi closes the Lion's gate for a spell just to show Lakshmi's uneasy concern and then ushers Jagannath to the Temple. Jagannath faces another hurdle at the Jaya Vijaya gate, for his entry is now denied by a bevy of Devadasis. After an exciting mock quarrel or repartee between the Daitas and Devadasis Jagannath is somehow ushered to the entrance of the store where he joins Lakshmi and offers her a garland and some sweet ( rasagola). His return to the sanctum is known as NILADRI VIJAY. Thus ends historic car festival of Lord Jagannath.

July 7, 2003

Lakh congregate for Bahuda

Over five lakh devotees braved incessant monsoon rain and water logging to be a part of the return car festival Bahuda, here on Tuesday. All the chariots made it safely to Singha Dwar (Lions' Gate) by Tuesday evening after the police personnel and devotees managed to safely pull the chariots through four feet high water.

Puri and its adjoining areas are being lashed by torrential monsoon rain since the past 24 hours. The sewerage and drainage system was rendered useless as the train created a lagoon of 4feet deep water on a one km area in the Badadanda from Badasankha to Balagandi. Even some of the low laying areas of the town were under 1 metre of rain water. This caused a lot of problems to the devotees because most of them spend the night of Bahuda-eve in the open.

The devotees and the district administration got their act together and managed to complete the ritual without any major difficulty. The district administration and the police used four pumps to clear the standing water. Although the pulling of the chariots was a bit late the chariots reached Singha Dwar by Tuesday evening.

The three deities along with Madan Mohan began to be brought out of the sanctum sanctorum of Shree Gundicha Mandir in Pahandi procession at 9.20am and all the deities were on te chariots by 10.55am, Gajapati Maharaja Dibya Singh Dev completed Chherapahanra, the ritual sweeping of the chariots with a golden broom and the chariota began rolled after the wooden horses were attached

The devotees showed immense fortiude and pulled the three chariots through the downpour. Lord Balabhadra's chariot, Taladhwaja, was the first to be pulled. It was followed by Devi Subhadra's Darpadalana and Lord Jagannath's Nandighosha. Taladhwaja reached Singha Dwar at exactly 5.50pm followed by Darpadalana at 6.05pm. Nandighosha was the last to reached at 7.15pm after completing Laxmi Narayan Bheta.

The Bahuda Yatra was threatened by all sorts of problems even before the rituals started. To add to the incessant rain, the power supply of the town tipped frequently, making it a night for the anti social elements.The bus-stand was not properly illuminated due to which the anti-socials harassed the pilgrims. Even the police personnel deployed in the area could not be of much assistance because of the poor lighting system.

However the district administration did a commendable job in seeing the Bahuda Yatra through despite the difficulties. District magistrate P.K.Mohapatra and superintendent of police Debasish Panigrahi played pivotal roles in the smooth management of the Yatra.