Rains failed to dampen the spirit of the devotees who tugged the rope of decked-up chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra during the annual 'Rath Yatra' in the city.
Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could not attend the Rath Yatra in person, she wished one and all a very happy Rath Yatra and extended her best wishes for the auspicious day. State Panchayat and PHE minister Subrata Mukherjee, Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MP Subrato Bakshi flagged off the Rath Yatra in the city on Sunday, including the one hosted by ISKCON.
Devotees sang and danced to the beats of cymbals and drums moving through the streets of Kolkata. The theme of this year's Yatra is Ramanuj Acharya, an exponent of Vaishnavism whose 1000th birth anniversary is celebrated this year. Sovan Chatterjee along with Subrata Mukherjee inaugurated the Ratha Yatra of ISKCON that set foot into the 46th year. The Ratha Yatra of ISKCON started from near Minto Park where the ministers participated in the auspicious ceremony and pulled ropes of the chariot of Lord Jagannath.
Hundreds including many foreigners joined the procession that passed through Hungerford Street, Minto Park, Sarat Bose Road, Hazra Road, SP Mukherjee Road and ATM Road. After passing through Exide crossing at around 4.45 pm the chariot of Lord Jagannath passed through Jawaharlal Nehru Road before reaching its destination at Brigade Parade Ground, where it would be kept till July 3. Many eminent personalities from different walks of life participated in the Ratha Yatra. The chariot of Lord Jagannath will be at Brigade Parade Ground for the next seven days. Hundreds of devotees will be visiting the Parade Ground in the coming days.
On July 3, the chariot will be returning through Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Dorina Crossing, SN Banerjee Road, Moulali Crossing, CIT Road, Park Circus connector, Shakespeare Sarani, Hungerford Street to reach Albert Road.
Though it was a Sunday, the city traffic police had made elaborate arrangements to ensure that devotees do not face any difficulty while taking the chariot to its destination at Brigade Parade Ground. At the same time, necessary steps were taken to avoid traffic congestion so that common people too do not face any trouble to reach their destinations.
Other ministers including state Agriculture minister Purnendu Basu, Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari participated in the Ratha Yatra at Mahesh in Hooghly and Mahishadal in East Midnapore. Lakhs of people gathered at both the places to pull the chariot. With only 95 days left for Durga Puja, organisers in different parts of the state chose the auspicious day of Ratha Yatra to mark a beginning for their Puja preparations. Khuti Puja that marks the beginning of setting up of mandaps where idols of Goddess Durga and her entourage will be placed took place at different localities both in the city and other parts of the state. Khuti Puja at different Puja mandaps were conducted amidst the beat of traditional dhaks and blowing of conch shells. From Sunday onwards, thousands of artists will work round-the-clock to give shape to their ideas to attract hundreds and thousands of people to their mandaps. The Puja organisers, however, did not divulge the details of the themes that they would set up this year. Understandably, the competition is huge every year and ideas on which each of them bring up their pandals are kept as well-guarded secrets. Artisans at Kumartuli are too busy on the day of Ratha Yatra as they also perform pujas before beginning to make idols of Goddesses Durga. Many Puja organisers went to Kumartuli on Sunday and placed the order to make Durga idols for their respective pujas as Ratha Yatra is considered to be a very auspicious day.
At Mayapur in Nadia district, the ISKCON rath yatra was inaugurated by Calcutta High Court Justice Rakesh Tiwari sweeping the ground before the cart of Lord Jagannath before it proceeded, which is a customary practice.