As many as 98 trucks, 20 bhajan mandalis, 30 akhadas and 19 elephants will take part in the religious procession.
The much-awaited Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, the 133rd in Ahmedabad, will set off on Tuesday morning amid tight police security.
Preparations for the yatra had begun much in advance, thus ensuring that the Jagannath temple in Jamalpur is ready for the big day.
As many as 98 trucks, 20 bhajan mandalis, 30 akhadas and 19 elephants will take part in the religious procession.
However, the main concern of the state police is security, which has been doubled in view of the upcoming civic elections.
As many as 14,000 police personnel have been deployed along the yatra route through the walled city to deter anti-social elements. There has been heavy police presence in the area since Sunday.
Chief minister Narendra Modi will offer pooja at the temple on Tuesday morning and flag off the Rath Yatra at around 7 am. The procession will proceed towards Khamasa Chowky along the 132-year-old route and go on to Saraspur.
It will eventually return to the temple by 7 pm. Modi also offered prayers on Monday at around 5 pm when he visited the temple for the evening aarti. The chief minister arrived at the temple with much fanfare, reminding people of the tribal king, Vishnu Vase, who built the temple centuries ago. Earlier in the day, state home minister Amit Shah also visited the temple.
“More than 25,000 police personnel will monitor the Rath Yatra,” joint commissioner of police, sector 1, Satish Sharma said. Additionally, around 5,000 temple and local volunteers will work to ensure peace during the procession.
Temple sources said that as many as 10 lakh people gather along the route to watch the procession every year. People from western Ahmedabad, too, throng the walled city to catch a glimpse of the Lord on his journey to Saraspur.
The yatra has an old history. The first Rath Yatra was taken out in 1878 when the Lord had reached his mosal (maternal uncle’s house) in Saraspur at 12:30 pm.
The Frontier Gandhi, Khan Abdul Gafar Khan, had also visited the Rath Yatra several times. Ever since an incident of stone-pelting in Dariapur disrupted the Rath Yatra in 1984, the yatra is taken out under heavy police security.
(With inputs by Charul Shah)
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