By Our Correspondent
AHMEDABAD: Annual Car Festival was celebrated at the Jagannath Temple situated at Adalaj in Gujarat with spectacular fanfare and spiritual fervour as informed by the Member Secretary of Jagannath Cultural Academy and Research Centre (JCARC) Dr Badri Mahapatra.
Hosted by the Temple Management Body Shree Jagannath Chariot pulling Ceremony drew unusual enthusiasm and unprecedented excitement among the visitors this year.Around 20,000 Odia and Non Odia devotees gathered here from in and around Adalaj and nearby areas to witness the Mega Religious Event .
Adequate arrangements have been made by the Temple Management Committee to maintain discipline and orderliness . Series of special worshippings were undertaken before the Idols in the Temple since the wee hours of the Holy Day.
Around 8.30 a.m. in the morning the Pahandi Bije of Four Deities to the colourfully decorated chariot stationed infront of the Temple started. The entire atmosphere got reverberated with the recitals of hymns, roaring of slogans like Haribol and Jai Jagannath, sounding of Huluhuli, blowing of conch and playing of musical instruments like Ghanta, Kartala, Mardala, Jhanja and Mrudanga by the devotees.The highlight of the celebration was the Pahandi of Maa Subhadra exclusively carried on by Ladies.
The Chief Guest Of The Ceremony Chief Minister Of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel was accorded a Warm Welcome By The Chairman Of JCARC Dr Sudip Kumar Nanda And Other Organisers. Dr Nanda presented The Royal Cap And Golden Broom To Shri Patel as a mark of honour. At around 9.15 a.m. in the morning the traditional sweeping in front of the chariot called Chherapahanra was performed by the Chief Minister Shri Patel.
Other distinguished guests present include Minister Raghavjibhai Hansrajbhai Patel and Rajya Sabha M.P. Narahari Amin.At around 10.30 a.m. the pulling of Chariot commenced. The royal chariot with the Four Deities on the board was pulled by the devotees till 3 km away to Maa Annapurna Temple and then was taken back to the premises of the Temple at around noon time.
The Mahaprasad was distributed free of cost to the participants at Maa Annapurna Temple during noon time and at the main Adalaj Temple from 11a.m. to 9 p.m. in night. In the afternoon the Deities were taken back from the chariot in Pahandi and placed at the Pandal of makeshift Aunt’s House located in the Community Hall at the Ground Floor of the Temple. As per the Temple sources the General public can have a view of Gods and Goddess here till the Niladri Bije Day. People can perform Arati before the Deities here in every evening of Nine days stay at Aunt’s House.
The Special attraction of this year’s Rath Yatra was the high voltage Bhajan recital by the group of 100 strong noted ladies vocalists accompanying the moving chariot riding on six tractors.The crowd were thoroughly enthralled by their soul stirring rendition of devotional numbers.The devotees got overwhelmed by the sight of rotating Sudarshan Chakra above of their heads in the sky being guided by drone during the Yatra .
The entire arrangements of Rath Yatra was smoothly organised and successfully conducted by Chairman of Orissa Association and JCARC Dr Sudip Kumar Nanda, President of Orissa Association Hare Krushna Dash, Member Secretary of JCARC and General Secretary of Orissa Association Dr Badri Mahapatra and Chairperson of Temple Committee Leela Dash.
This team was actively supported by the Trustees, Committee Members of the Temple, functionaries and members of Orissa Association which include Maheshwar Sahu, Dr Nibedita Sahu, Banchanidhi Pani, Rabi Panda, Ashok Samal, Satya Mishra, Narayan Swain, Ajaya Das, Mahendra Das, Rajesh Samal, Dilip Jena, Rohit Nayak, Nigamananda Das, Dilip Bal, Sandhya Panda and Ganesh Sabat.
