Belated Ratha Yatra celebrated in ganjam on Saturday

Bhubaneswar : A large number of people pulled the chariot of Lord Jagannath in some places of Odisha’s Ganjam district Saturday, a day after the Rath Yatra festival was celebrated elsewhere.

Traditionally, the belated festival is held in Surangi, Digapahandi, Dharakote and some other areas of the district, though the exact reason is not known.

The return of the chariots, known as the Bahuda festival, is also observed in these places a day after it is held in other places.

In terms of rituals, the festival in these places was almost similar to Puri where Rath Yatra was celebrated in a grand manner on Friday.

Since the Jagannath temple was built by the then king of Surangi in the 18th century, locals and the temple management committee have been pulling the chariots a day after the famous festival is celebrated elsewhere.

It is believed that as people used to visit other places to celebrate the festival, there were not enough devotees to pull the chariots. So, the king postponed it by a day, according to locals.

Several Telugu-speaking people from the nearby villages of Andhra Pradesh also participated in the festival at Surangi in Patrapur block, said the president of the festival committee Gopal Chandra Hota.

The chariots rolled in these areas with public participation after a gap of two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.