Friday, July 8 2005 19:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Puri: With the shadow of the terrorist attack at Ayodhya in the backdrop, lakhs of devotees braved heavy rains to witness the annual Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra held under unprecedented security in Puri today (July 8, 2005).

People jostled for space in front of the 12th century Sri Jagannath temple for a glimpse of the deities -- Balabhadra, Jagannath and their sister Subhadra -- who were brought out of the shrine for their annual rendezvous with the devotees.

Scores of sevayats, clad in dhoti and gamuchha, swayed the idols to and fro to the accompaniment of drums and gongs in the ritual known as 'pahandi' as policemen on rooftops and closed-circuit television cameras kept watch.

The pilgrim town woke up to the shouts of 'Haribol' and 'Jai Jagannath' as priests went through rituals preparing the deities for the festival, one of the most important in the Oriya almanac.

The idols were taken out of the 'sanctum sanctorum' down the famous 'baisi pahacha' (22 steps) before appearing at the 'Simha dwar' (lion's gate) of the temple.

The Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb, considered an incarnation of Lord Jagannath, then came in a palaquin from his palace nearby and swept the wooden floors of each chariot using a broom with a golden handle.

Rains relented somewhat afterwards as the crowd pulled the red and green 'Taladhwaj' down the wide grand road leading to the Gundicha temple amidst shouts of 'Jai Jagannath'.

The other two chariots, red and black 'Darpadalan' of Devi Subhadra and red and yellow 'Nandighosh' of Jagannath started rolling subsequently.