In Odisha, all necessary arrangements are in place to observe the world famous Rath Yatra in Puri tomorrow. Like in the previous year, this year too the car festival of Lord Jagannath and his siblings will however be conducted without the general devotees due to the prevailing pandemic.
Come the Car Festival every year and every nook and cranny of Odisha gets going with the replicas of the Raths- big and small- with a festive aura descending all over. However covid-19 has forced the government to restrict the Rath Yatra only to the holy city of Puri that too with a strict ban on public participation- thanks to the pandemic. Accordingly, while all entry and exit points to and from Puri are being sealed, curfew is being imposed in the city from 8 p.m. today till 8 p.m. on Tuesday to prevent any kind of congregation. As many 65 platoons of police are being deployed in the city to oversee the smooth conduct of the car festival tomorrow. Devotees can however have the darshan of deities atop their respective Raths through live telecast, even as the grand chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Suvadra chugs along the grand Badadanda tomorrow.
