Puri Ready for Grand Rath Yatra despite Rain, Security Tightened

PURI: The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra will be held in Puri on Thursday under tight security, with nearly two lakh devotees already arriving despite heavy rainfall. The chariots will be pulled along the Grand Road to the Shree Gundicha Temple after the traditional Chhera Pahanra ritual by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, scheduled to begin around 4 pm.

The administration has deployed around 13,000 personnel, including state police, central forces, the Indian Navy, and Coast Guard, with special emphasis on crowd control, traffic management, and emergency response. Authorities have also made arrangements to clear waterlogging on the Grand Road after Puri received 143.8 mm of rain on Wednesday, while the IMD has forecast more rain and thunderstorms. Additional safety measures have been put in place following last year’s stampede near the Gundicha Temple that claimed three lives.