RANCHI, July 11, 2013: The mythological journey of Lord Jagannath along with brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra is considered to bring prosperity to his subjects. This time the festive occasion has been auspicious to the political leaders, particularly those who have proceeded to form government after a gap of around six months.

Chief minister in making Hemant Soren of JMM and former Union minister of Congress Subodh Kant Sahay went together to seek blessings whereas local MLA Navin Jaiswal, though from the opposition camp now received them. The auspicious occasion of Rath apart from bringing cheers on the faces of group of political leaders also enthused hundreds of artisans and traders coming from different states to participate in the nine day religious extravaganza.

After ritualistic puja, which began in the morning, the chariot was finally pulled to mausi bari the destination where the idols of the deity are worshipped for the next nine days. Thousands of devotees participated in this traditional event in which manually the wooden chariot is pulled using ropes.

In the wake of recent terror attack on religious places the district administration apart from maintaining general law and order kept a vigil on the activities. Though managing the huge crowd of several thousand devotees is in itself a big challenge for the local police, arrangements were made for installation of CCTVs and online monitoring of the events. "We tried to manage the crowd and ensure that the women and old people are not harassed in the crowd whereas the policemen that included home guards and district armed police remained vigilant about any suspicious movement of those coming to the mela ground," said Jayant Sinha a volunteer of the jagannathpur youth club.

The religious occasion is often described as a socio-economic congregation as it gives a platform to the artisans and craftsman to sell tools and equipments related to minor trades. "Lord Jagannath comes with the message that God helps those who helps themselves and hence from fishermen to blacksmiths and from carpenters to potters can find their tools and equipments at reasonable price in this nine day mela," said Jageshwar Panda, one of the priests who comes here to manage the affairs during main first and ninth day.
 

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 11, 2013.