Bahuda Yatra draws huge crowd in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: About 3,000 devotees made their way to Gundicha temple, Lawson's Bay Colony, to take part in 'Bahuda yatra', return of Lord Jagannath along with Balabhadra and Subhadra to the main temple located at Daspalla Hills.

As the wheels of the chariot, carrying the deities, marched forward, folk artistes played drums and cymbals to add fervour to the procession. After a nine-day-long sojourn at Gundicha temple, the return journey, organised by Utkal Sanskrutika Samaj, a premier socio-cultural organisation of Odias, passed via Lawson's Bay Colony, VUDA Park and Siripuram before arriving at the shrine nestled in Daspalla Hills.

Amidst the chants of 'Jai Jagannath', the ritual of sweeping of the floor to make way for the 'rath' was performed by 'Lal Saheb' Pramod Bhanja Deo of the erstwhile Daspalla royal family. The beats of Dulduli team from Sambalpur reverberated all along the yatra. Odissi dance was performed on the occasion in a similar manner followed in Puri to mark Bahuda yatra.

The ritual drew various communities together. Associations such as Marwari Yuva Manch and Punjabi Cultural Association also extended support to the yatra by distributing refreshments to the devotees.

Chief Commissioner of Income Tax CR Pati, former Commissioner of Customs SC Choudhury, president of the samaj JK Nayak, general secretary Bimal Kumar Mahanta, among others participated in the celebrations.