Toshali Sands

Lord Jagannath back home
Puri, July 20: About five lakh people converged o this pilgrim town on Saturday to witness the ‘Bahuda Yatra’ of Lord Jagannath. The crowed spilled around the Gundicha temple, the abode of the deities of the 13th century Sri Jagannath temple for nine days, as the idols were ceremoniously taken out of the shrine and installed atop three colourful chariots. The chariots had been parked outside the Gundicha temple since the Rath Yatra on July 12. The ‘Pahandi’, a ritual concerning the installation of the deities on the chariots began at around 8.50 a.m. completed shortly after the noon. The Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, Sri Dibyasingh Dev, then arrived in a palanquin to conduct ‘chhera pahanra’ - sweeping of the wooden floor of the three chariots with a golden broom. The crowd then began pulling the chariots towards the Sri Jagannath temple.