135th Lord Jagannath Rathyatra begins in Gujarat

As per tradition, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, performed the 'Pahind Vidhi' of Rathyatra (symbolic path cleaning on chariot of Lord Jagannath) after which the annual rathyatra of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baldev and their sister Devi Subhadra began here.

The Chief Minister also pulled the chariot of Lord Jagganath out of the temple premises, an age old tradition here.

"After Puri, Ahmedabad's rathyatra in the country and world has turned out to be centre of attraction. Thousands of saints arrive in Gujarat to participate in this rathyatra," Modi told newsmen.

"I pray to Lord Jagannath that Gujarat which has been successful in attaining new heights of development with peace, unity and sadhbhavana should prosper and progress more with the lord's blessing," he said.

"On the occasion of Rathyatra, I pray at Lord's feet that even this year the rains should be good during the monsoon," Modi said.

The 14-km route of the procession will pass through communally sensitive localities in the city like Kalupur, Prem Darwaja, Delhi Chakla, Dariyapur and Shahpur, amidst robust security arrangements.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the 135th Rathyatra. Around 20,000 policemen including homeguards, SRPs and para-military will be deployed on the entire 14-KM yatra route along with other security arrangements.

For the first time GPS and hidden cameras will be used by the police.