Ahmedabad

The 138th Rathyatra of Lord Jagannath today passed off peacefully in the city amid tight security with lakhs of devotees lining up along the roads to catch a glimpse of the deity on the rolling chariots.

The ‘Rathyatra’ or the chariot procession today coincided with ‘Eid-Ul-Fitr’. Hindu and Muslim communities celebrated the two festivals in a spirit of communal harmony, greeting each others and exchanging gifts.

Local Muslims welcomed the Raths (chariots) of Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Baldev and their sister Subhadra at various points in communally sensitive areas.

The chariots started their 14-km journey after the Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel performed ‘Pahind Vidhi’, a symbolic ritual of cleaning way for the Raths, at 400-year-old Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area.

The procession comprised 18 decorated elephants, 100 trucks, 30 religious congregations, 18 singing troupes, seven cars and three aesthetically decorated chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balram and Subhadra.

The route of the procession also covered communally sensitive areas of Dariyapur, Kalupur and Shahpur.

The dominating theme of various tableaux in the procession was Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.

Some of the participants in the procession were wearing masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

In the afternoon, the Rathyatra took a break in Saraspur area here, considered to be the maternal house of the Lord, where about five lakh devotees enjoyed a feast of Gujarati delicacies like mohanthal, phoolvadi, sweet daal and rice, etc.

PTI