Puri: In a major mishappening during this Rath Jatra, Lord Balabhadra slipped on the ‘Charamala’ while being taken off his Taladhwaja chariot to the ‘Adapa Mandap’ of Shree Gundicha temple in ‘Goti Pahandi’ on this evening.
After completion of rituals on the chariots, the ‘Pahandi’ ritual of Lord Balabhadra began around 9 PM. After Lord Sudarshan, Lord Balabhadra was taken to ‘Adapa Mandap’ in ‘Pahandi’. While coming down on the ‘Charamala’, Lord Balabhadra slipped. However, the servitors immediately managed to bring him back to his earlier position.
In the mishap, around seven servitors were said to have suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospital.
The injured five servitors have been admitted to the district headquarters hospital while four to five other servitors have also sustained very minor injuries, said Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain.
As rituals of the Trinity is most important, the ‘Pahandi’ (ceremonial procession) was resumed soon with active support of the Daitapati sevayats (temple priests) and Lord Balabhadra escorted to the Sri Gundicha Temple, he said.
The Pahandi of Devi Subhadra is now underway. After that, Lord Jagannath, the Lord of Universe, will be taken to the Adapa Mandap inside the Shree Gundicha Temple tonight.
The Trinity, who remained seated on the chariots overnight, are being taken into Shree Gundicha Temple, considered their birthplace, amid chanting of Sanskrit slokas as the air is rented with “Jai Jagannath” by thousands of devotees.
They will remain in Shree Gundicha Temple till ‘Bahuda’ Jatra or return to the car festival on July 15 when the Trinity will come back to the 12th century Shree Jagannath temple.
All their daily rituals will be observed now in Sri Gundicha Temple.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has expressed concern on the incident and directed Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan to visit Puri immediately and take appropriate steps.
The Chief Minister wished for speedy recovery of the injured servitors.