Rath Yatra in the city was held with usual enthusiasm.
The rath of ISKCON was the biggest crowd puller. The raths of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and mother Subhadra started their journey from ISKCON headquarters on Albert Road. Special puja was held in the morning and then the trio were placed on the raths. The raths went to mashir bari (aunt’s house) that has been temporarily built on Maidan via Sarat Bose Road, Hazra Road, Asutosh Mukherjee Road, SP Mukherjee Road. The devotees danced and sang bhajans in praise of Lord Jagannath. The raths were decorated. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was away in Digha to pull the rope of the rath of Lord Jagannath in Digha could not attend the function in the city.
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Lord Jagannath with his siblings will stay there for seven days and return to the temple on 5 July. During the next one week, there will be a fair and regular discourse on Bhagavad Gita, Sri Bhagvatam and other books on Indian philosophy. Speakers will address the gatherings and there will be round-the-clock bhajan and kirtan.
The Rath Yatra was held with due solemnity at Balaram Mandir, a centre of Belur Math where Sri Ramakrishna had pulled the rope of the chariot of Lord Jagannath on 3 July, 1884. The monks of the Ramakrishna Order and the devotees pulled the rope, which is considered to be holy.
Rath Yatra was held at Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Boys School too. The students decorated the rath and sang bhajans. It was held at the Ramakrishna Mission in Malda.
The Rath Yatra festival was held with usual enthusiasm at Barisha. The festival is 307 years old. Local people pulled the rope and later the prasad was distributed.
Many people, mostly children, took out raths, decorated with flowers. The Rath Yatra was observed at the Harbola temple of Bhaba Pagla in Digha.