Baripada: Devotees in Baripada, which is known as the second ‘Shreekshetra’, are still in confusion as to whether the Rath Yatra at Haribaldevjew temple will be held or not.
Like Puri and other Jagannath temples, the ‘Snana Purnima’ here was also held without any devotees, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. At a time when no decision has been taken as of yet regarding Rath Yatra, the mere thought of them losing the once-a-year opportunity of pulling the chariots and getting the blessings of the deities has saddened the devotees.
However, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, chariot carpenters here are continuing to race against time to complete construction work in time.
Earlier, they used to get three months time to finish construction. But this year they have only one and half months time to complete the task.
According to Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, a senior chariot carpenter, more than fifty per cent of construction has already been done.
“Earlier 4,000 to 4,500 logs used to be supplied for chariot construction. This year we have received only 1,600 logs. So we are using some of the used logs in the construction,” he added.
A total of 37 carpenters (Barachia-29, Jagiri-8) are working day in day out to complete the task before June 23, the day of Rath Yatra.
The servitors alleged that the district administration, which holds a preparatory meeting on Rath Yatra every year, has not conducted any such meeting yet.
While the administration is blaming coronavirus for not holding the meeting, the fumed servitors are not ready to buy the COVID-19 theory.
“In other districts including Puri, the meetings are being conducted with strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. One round of such meeting should be observed here,” they said.
When contacted, executive officer, endowment department-cum-sub-collector Basant Kumar Sethy said, “The Rath Yatra will be observed as per the direction of the government. The preparatory meeting has not been conducted so far because the possibility of turning up of crowd is slender. However, there will be a preparatory meeting in the coming days.”
PNN