The three chariots used in the Rath Yatra at Puri this year would be preserved and not dismantled liked the previous years.
Chief administrator of Sri Jagannath temple Dr Krishan Kumar said the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra would be placed at Jagannath Ballav mutt for public viewing. “A proposal to preserve the chariots was adopted at the joint meeting of the temple managing committee and Chhatisha Nijog,” said Kumar. The mutt is functionally connected with the temple.
For the first time in the history of Rath Yatra, no devotees were allowed to go to Puri both on June 23, the day the three chariots were pulled out from the main temple and taken to Gundicha temple. Similar curbs were in place July 4 too when these chariots were pulled back as per the orders of the Supreme Court to check the spread of Covid-19.
Officials said the three chariots would serve as a monument of a historic Rath Yatra that took place without devotees, the most intrinsic part of the festival.
The three chariots made out of over 13,000 cubic ft timber are dismantled after the Rath Yatra every year and new ones are constructed for the next year’s procession. The wood of the chariots is used in Jagannath temple kitchen to cook the ‘Kotha Bhoga’.
