By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/ANGUL: Thousands of devotees joined the first ever Rath Yatra festival held at Devbhoomi, Jindal Nagar. The chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath embarked on their annual journey from the Temple in DevBhoomi to Gundicha Temple in the township.
The Prime Servitors of the temple and Chairman of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP) Mr. Naveen Jindal joined the Rathyatra extravaganza with his entire family. He participated in the ‘Pahandi Vidhi ‘and performed the Chherapanhara, the symbolic ritual of cleaning the way for the grand chariots before the start of the Rath Yatra.
Attending this auspicious occasion Mr. Naveen Jindal in his greetings said, “I am extremely humbled and feeling blessed by performing this Cheera Pahanra Neeti. I pray before the Almighty to bless us all to serve the Society. May Lord Jagannath bless us all and Happy Rath Yatra to All”.
All the rituals were done in line with the ritual followed in the Jagannath Temple at Puri. The auspicious day started at 4.30 am with Manima Daka & Dwar Phita (Door Opening) neeti followed by Mangal Aarati, Mailam, Tadap Lagi, Abakash Neeti, etc.
JSPL Foundation’s Chairpersons Shallu Jindal joined the early morning rituals and performed all the pujas like Rath Pratishta and others with full of devotion and under the guidance of the Chief-Priest of the temple.
The mother of Mr. Naveen Jindal, Smt.Savitri Jindal , the Chairperson Emeritus of OP Jindal Group , also joined the puja rituals and witnessed the first ever Rath Yatra Held at Jindal Nagar.
The special attraction of this grand festival was that Lord Subhadra’s Rath was pulled by girls and women with full of enthusiasm.
The top officials of JSP Mr. V.R. Sharms, M.D; Mr. Dinesh Kumar Saraogi, CEO Steel Business; Mr. Pankaj Lochan, CHRO; Mr. Hridayeshwar Jha, Location Head Angul and Executive Directors Mr. Sabyasachi Bandyopadhyay & Mr. Damodar Mittal with all their family members also witnessed the Rath Yatra and pulled the chariots with other devotees.
With an aim to reach to the maximum number of devotees the Rath Yatra was also telecast live through digital media like Facebook and You Tube through which thousands of devotees got an opportunity to witness the festival.
Thousands of devotees from Jindal Nagar and local villages joined the festival with religious fervour, pulled the three Chariots to Shree Gundicha Temple and took the Anna Prasad.
