By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR:48th Bahuda Yatra Festival celebrated at the main Jagannath Temple of the National Capital Region at Hauz Khas village in New Delhi amidst spectacular fanfare and spiritual fervour. Commencing from the wee hours in the morning all the religious rituals were performed before the Trinity at Adap Mandap inside Aunt’s House with utmost solemnity by the priests of the temple. At about 4.00 p.m. the Four Deities were taken in Dhadi Pahandi procession from the Gundicha Temple to the elegantly decorated chariot stationed at the Grand Road in front of the temple.The whole ambience got reverberated with the recitals of hymns, shouting of slogans like Hari Bol, Jai Jagannath and playing of musical instruments like Ghanta, Mardala, Jhanja and Mrudanga by the devotees and servitors. Dr Ashok Choudhury provided medical assistance to the devotees.
At about 4.30 p.m. Secretary of the Temple Management Committee Sree Neelachal Seva Sangha and noted Philanthropist Ravinder Nath Pradhan did the traditional Chherapahanra. Former Judge of Supreme Court Justice Arijit Pasayat helped him in performing the job. At around 5.00 p.m. amidst the Kirtan and singing of Bhajans and Jananas the chariot was pulled till Shri Aurobindo Place market in the Shri Jagannath Marg and then was returned back to the temple premises. The view of the Trinity in a majestic style from atop the Royal Chariot during their sojourn on the street of Delhi was momentous and mesmerising. After completion of the return Journey, the Deities remained on the chariot for Public viewing. In late night all the Four Deities were taken in a procession to the Natyamandap and were placed there. As informed by the Temple sources, Deities will remain at Natyamandap till the date of Niladribije on 27th July 2026.
The special attraction of the Bahuda Yatra was presentation of colourful cultural programme featuring scintillating group dance by renowned choreographer Saswat Joshi and troupe, Spellbinding Sambalpuri Folk Dance by artistes from Tribal & Folk Art Centre, Sambalpur and soul soothing Bhajan recital by famous music Director Prem Anand and noted vocalists like Satyajit Pradhan, Anuradha Panigrahi, Jyotirmayee Nayak and Sidharth Mishra. The cultural programme was ably presented and co – ordinated by Ace Anchor Swarnaprava Pati.
The entire arrangements of Bahuda Yatra were well managed and smoothly conducted by the able and active Organising team of Sree Neelachala Seva Sangha, which include President Bighneswar Rout, Secretary Ravindra Nath Pradhan, Adviser & Senior Advocate Abani Sahu and other office bearers like Ravi Pani, Gajendra Samanta, Abhaya Pradhan, Ashok Pradhan (A), Khirod Patra, Abhiram Sutar, Ashok Pradhan (B), Jitendra Mahapatra, Ajay Pradhan, Pankaj Mohanty, Nisidha Kumar Das, Rankanidhi Sahoo, Bijay Sahoo, Dilip Kumar Swain, Amulya Ojha, Sukanta Sahoo, Bidhan Jena, Aphisar Rout, Suraj Nayak, Pradeep Swain, Upendra Behera, Dillip Rout, Giridhari Mohanty, Manager of the Temple Rashmiranjan Behera, Assistant Managers Sashikanta Sahoo and Sanjiv Jena and Priests Sanatan Padhi, Debabrata Mishra, Jagabandhu Dash, Premananda Satpathy, Santosh Panda, Kalandi charan Badu and Prashant Dash.
