Ranchodji Mahalya on the highways of Rajnagar

144th Rathyatra: God's township without devotees, traditions preserved with prohibitions

12-hour rath yatra completed in just 3.48 hours: Pradipsinh Jadeja successfully fulfills responsibility of tight security

Rathyatra of 19 km route starts from 7:03 am- Concludes at 10:50 am: The atmosphere of the rathyatra, which is becoming symbolic without devotees, remained dim.

AHMEDABAD: Hundreds of devotees of Ashadhi Bij today have experienced what it would be like if the Nath of the world, without whose grace even a leaf could not move, had gone out of town and even though he was very close, he could not be realized.

But maintaining the 'indirect distance' between the Nath and the devotees as well as the 'social distance' between the devotees was also the best option so that the corona would not rain cop again.

On the auspicious occasion of Ashadhi Bij, the 144th Rathyatra of Lord Jagannathji was held from the famous Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad without the devotees-Bhajanmandali-Gajraj-Akhada. The 19-kilometer route of the rathyatra usually takes more than 12 hours to complete. Instead, this time the rathyatra was completed in 3.48 hours.

The eyes of the devotees were longing for the darshan of Jagannath in this time's rathyatra which has become symbolic instead of the traditional, while the Lord must have felt sleepless without the devotees. During the Rathyatra, the citizens of Ahmedabad also provided a noble example of discipline.

Ghodapur of devotees, tribal dance, kheechadi-mug-jambu prasad, feats of akhadians, bhajan groups, eyes of a devotee thirsting for a glimpse of God even though there is no place to set foot, Jai Jagannath-Jai Ranchod Makhanchor temple complex

In the temple of Jagannathji at Jamalpur, Ahmedabad, the atmosphere of unripe seeds is such that if a person experiences it even once, he will continue to cultivate it for the rest of his life. But none of these scenes resembling the identity of the Rathyatra was seen in this time of the Rathyatra.

There were only police-security personnel in place of the devotees on the way to the temple premises, the rathyatra, and the 'Jai Jagannath' sound taking place in the temple premises was replaced by a kind of silence. The Mangala Aarti was held at the Jagannath Temple in the early hours of the morning, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in attendance.

By 5:10 a.m. Lord Jagannath, sister Subhadra, brother Balram were started sitting in the chariot. At 7 o'clock in the morning, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani performed Pahind Vidhi for the fifth year in a row and with it the Rathyatra also started. Usually as soon as the rathyatra starts, the whole campus resounds with the sound of 'Jai Ranchod, Makhanchor'.

But today was becoming an exception when the sound was echoing in the hearts of the devotees who were enjoying the rath yatra through television. The procession, which started at 7:03 a.m., usually takes an hour and a half to reach the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation office, which is 1.20 km from the temple. Instead, this time at 7:20 the three chariots reached there.

The three chariots reached the Ranchodraiji temple in Saraspur at 8.30 am. All three chariots stay there for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Instead, the three chariots departed within 10 minutes of the completion of the Mamera ceremony. The procession usually ends around 8:30 pm. Instead, this time the 10:50 rathyatra ended.

A curfew was declared on the route of the rathyatra till 2 p.m. But the curfew was lifted at 11:30 a.m. as soon as the chariot returned. The chariot was circulated in the temple premises last year following more cases of corona. This time a rath yatra was organized but the devotees felt that they were staying in Koradhakor despite the torrential rains.

After returning to Rath Nijmandir, every devotee was begging Jagannath from the bottom of his heart while doing darshan, 'Now everything will be restored as before March 2020 and next year Ashadhi II the entire temple premises will be buzzing with devotees and the whole procession will resound with the sound of Jai Jagannath. Woke up. ' Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja took a personal interest and played a commendable role in making the rath yatra a success by setting up a tight police cordon.