Lakhs to attend 145th Rath Yatra on July 1

According to trustees of Lord Jagannath Temple, preparations for the Yatra are going on in full swing.

At a press conference in Ahmedabad on Monday, Mahendra Jha, one of the trustees of the temple, said, “This year, we are organising the Rath Yatra in its full-fledged form… 18 elephants, 101 trucks with different tableaus depicting India’s culture, 30 Akhada Dal groups and 18 Bhajan Mandalis will be part of the procession. A total of 1,200 persons will pull the chariots.”

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Adding that the trust has prepared prasad for at least two lakh devotees, Jha said, “We have also invited 2,000 sadhus and seers from all over India…”

When asked about the Covid protocols for the procession, Jha said, “We request devotees to come wearing masks and follow the Covid protocols.”

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Police announced that it will deploy over 25,000 police personnel, including teams of the Rapid Action Force, Central Reserve Police Force, State Reserve Police, ATS, Ahmedabad Crime Branch and other agencies, to monitor the yatra route. Parking arrangement have done kept at APMC Market ground of Jamalpur.

Usually, over three lakh devotees from across the state attend the yearly Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra procession that covers a distance of 18 kilometres. In 2020, for the first time in over 100 years, the 143rd Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra was called off due to Covid pandemic and a symbolic yatra with one main chariot was carried out inside the premises of the as per a directive by the state government.

In 2021, the 144th rath yatra was taken out from Jamalpur Darwaza to Saraspur, without devotees as a curfew was implemented in parts of the city. Only priests, temple trust members and police personnel were part of the procession.