Millennium's First Nabakalebar Rath Yatra Held in Puri.
The century's first Nabakalebar Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath was held yesterday with great enthusiasm at Puri. This year all the rituals of the deties took place in time.
Lakhs of devotees from across the country and abroad have joined in this great festival. This is the first nine-day journey of the new idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra to Gundicha Temple. This time Nabakalebara( change of bodies of the Lords) took place after a gap of 19 years.
This year around 25 lakh pilgrims attended the Rath yatra, police had made elaborate arrangements to provide a thick security cover by deploying about 10,000 personnel besides putting air and coast surveillance in place. A total of 33 temporary accommodations(Nabakalebara Village with facility of toilets, information centre, bath facility for both male and female and fire security) were arranged and well built by district administration for the crowd.
Two women have been killed and 20 others injured in a stampede during the Rath Yatra.