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While lakhs of devotees from far and wide are planning to throng Puri to witness grand Rath Yatra tomorrow, much to their encouragement, the readied chariots got permissions from their respective lords for movement this morning. Servitors brought Ajnamalas (garlands of permission) from the Trinity- Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra- and placed them on the respective Raths – Taladhwaja, Nandighosh and Darpadalan-amid chanting of Mantras. With this, the Raths got their lords’ nod for movement. After this ritual, the Raths will move from Rath Khala (Chariot construction yard) in front of the Rajnaar (Puri King’s palace) to the front yard of Singhadwar (Lions’ Gate), the main entry gate of the Shreemandir. Tomorrow, the deities will be brought in Pahandi and seated in their respective Raths. Chakraraj Sudarshan will be seated on Devi Subhadra’s chariot along with the goddess. Preparations for the world famous festival are in full swing now. It may be noted that devotees w...

Vast deep waters of Chilika Lake had hidden Shree Jagannath. Threatened by a Muslim invasion, deities of Shree Jagannath temple had left Puri in 1509 AD. During this exile Chilika Lake had become their shelter. This had happened during the reign of Prataprudradeva in Odisha. At that time Allauddin Hussain Shah was the sultan of Bengal. He was always trying to invade Odisha and Puri. But this sultan of Bengal had not dared to attack Puri when Prataprudradeva was present in Srikhetra or nearby. Nefarious intention: In 1509 AD, Prataprudradeva had to leave for southern region of his empire for some administrative and defence related work. This news reached Allauddin Hussain Shah. His commander Ismail Ghazi invaded Odisha. Bengal sultan’s commander launched an attack on Puri. Without the king, the defence of Puri was weak. Priests of the temple could assess that the Islamic invader had aimed to desecrate the deities of Shree Jagannath temple . Protecting the divine: The priests of Jagannat...