Jagannath Rath Yatra commences in Ahmedabad; Shah, CM Patel offer prayers
The 147th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath rolled out early Sunday morning in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city where a large number of devotees flocked the procession route to pay obeisance to the deity.
The raths (chariots) of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra are pulled by Khalashi community members as per the age-old tradition.
The Rath Yatra is taken out on the Ashadhi Beej (second day of Hindu Ashadh month) every year.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah performed the 'mangla aarti' and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel performed 'pahind vidhi', the ritual of cleaning the way using a golden broom, as the chariots rolled out from the 400-year-old Lord Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area.
A senior police official earlier said more than 22,000 security personnel will guard the event and some balloon-mounted cameras will also be deployed to keep a watch on the people's movement.
As many as 4,500 personnel have been deployed to walk with the procession along the entire 16