Rath Yatra: Patnayaks carry forward 20-year tradition

LUDHIANA: People belonging to the Oriya community participated in the Jagannath Rath Yatra ' that is planned on the pattern of Puri ' with much fervour on Sunday. It was a special moment for the family members of Pran Patnayak, who had been preparing for the yatra for the past one month. The Patnayak family has been making all the preparations related to the Rath Yatra in the city for the past 20 years.
While describing the importance of the day, Pran Patnayak said, 'Our ancestors have been serving Lord Jagannath for the past many years and we make the preparations related to this festival.'
He further said that priests perform rituals for 11 months and in this month their family members perform all the rituals.
Patnayak said that he along with his two sons have been performing this task since the Jagannath temple was constructed in the city.
Ramanan, another devotee, who is a businessman said, "Devotees come to Jagannath temple for paying their respects but on this particular day, the Lord comes out of the temple to meet his devotees." He further said that the Lord goes to spend his vacations at his aunt's place for nine days and would be at the nearby Gundicha temple for this time period.
Not only people belonging to the Oriya community but Punjabis too participated in the yatra with fervour. Rajinder Verma, a shopkeeper, who is a resident of Civil Lines, said that it is a soothing, peaceful experience to see Lord Jagannath on a decorated chariot.
The Rath Yatra began from the Jagannath temple at 1.30 pm and passed through several roads of the city where devotees got an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Lord. The chariot of the lord passed through Chander Nagar, Deep Nagar, Jandhu Chowk, Vrindavan Road, Kailash cinema chowk, Dandi Swami, Haibowal and then reached Gundicha temple which is located in Chander Nagar near Jagannath temple where the lord would stay for nine days. The lord would return to the Jagannath temple on July 14.