The chief minister performed the ritual of cleaning the rath with a golden broom before flagging it off.
The Jagannath temple in Jamalpur in the city is otherwise a peaceful place - as all temple complexes are. But as the day dawned on, it was milling with devotees, who performed puja and chanted bhajans. Around 3 am the number of devotees visiting the temple surged, for it was time for the Mangal Arti, a ritual that is performed before the Lord proceeds on his yatra. The idols of Lord Jagannath, Balram and their sister Subhadra were put on chariots, specially prepared for the yatra.
There was a mad rush of devotees who wanted to take a look at the Lord even as police personnel had a difficult time managing the crowd. However, security was soon tightened around the temple premises after 6 am as chief minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to make an appearance.
Around 6.40 am Modi came to the temple clad in a silk kurta pyjama and a Rajwadi turban.
He first went to the office of the temple and then moved towards the chariot to perform the Pahind Vidhi (a ritual cleaning of chariots with a broom made from gold). Modi performed the ritual for the eighth time as CM. As the devotees chanted slogans of Jay Ranchhod Makhan Chor Modi greeted them.
“We pray to god for a good monsoon,” said Modi while addressing the media outside the temple. The chariots began their journey around 7 am after the chief minister left. Speaker of the Gujarat assembly Ashok Bhatt, minister of state for home Amit Shah and others like Anandiben Patel, BJP MLA Pradeepsinh Jadeja and Geeta Patel among others were present as the Lord began his annual tour of the city.
Heavy security arrangements were made for the yatra. DGP SS Khandwawala and VV Rabari, head of state CID, were in the temple premises to monitor the entire situation.
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