India is a land of thousand gods, many say and the perfect epitome of it is visible throughout the length and breadth of this marvelous country. The presence of temples has been reported since the epic period of Ramayan and Mahabharat in India. Amongst the innumerable temples present in India a very famous one known as Jagarnath Temple is located in the beach city of Puri, Orissa.

This temple is primarily devoted to Lord Jagarnath who is an incarnation of Krishna (one of the very prominent Hindu gods). This temple holds high religious sentiments amongst the Hindus, primarily because it is a part of Char Dham (places which every Hindu must visit in his/her lifetime) others being Badrinath, Dwarka, and Rameshwaram respectively.

Jagarnath Temple is the only one in India where the goddess, Subhadra, sister of Lord Krishna is worshipped along with her brothers, Lord Jagannatha and Lord Balabhadra. The main temple here is about 1000 years old and constructed by Raja ChodaGanga Deva and Raja Tritiya Ananga Bhima Deva in the 12th century. As the story goes this temple was an outcome of a dream that the emperor of Puri saw in his dreams, according to legend he was ordered by God almighty to create a temple at a predefined location which he duly followed and the outcome was the Jagarnath Temple of Puri.

The Annual Rathayatra celebrated every year is most prominent amongst all the festivals celebrated in Puri. It has been attracting lakhs of devotees and pilgrims since time immemorial. During this festival the statues of Lord Jagarnath, Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra are transferred from Jagarnath Temple to Gundicha Mandir in a hand-pulled cart drawn by the pilgrims, after a stay at Gundicha for 9 days, the statues are again brought back to the Jagarnath Temple and restored. To see the Lord on the Chariot on the Rathayatra day is a good omen and helps in securing salvation from the cycles of birth and death many Hindus believe.

For the administrators, the entire Rathayatra period is very cumbersome. Managing thousands of devotees in no easy task and many times stampedes do occur due to heavy crowd inflow, sometimes even resulting in mass deaths. The task of organizing RathYatra in Puri is no less daunting and challenging than organizing the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India considered the biggest gathering of human beings on the planet.

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