Women break precedent, pull Subhadra's chariot

BHUBANESWAR: Call it women's empowerment or the feminine muscle power. Women in some parts of Orissa have come forward to pull the chas of Devi Subhadra, the sister of Lord Balabhadra and Lord Jagannath.
   
Though the women, according to Indian traditions, were not allowed to undertake rituals involving strength as they are considered 'soft', they pulled the chariot of Devi Subhadra at Baripada, the district headquarters of Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday.

Official sources said women in Baripada had created a history when for the first time they pulled Subhadra's chariot way back in 1975. "That was the International Year of Women when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Nandini Satpathy was the Chief Minister of Orissa," Snehalata Mishra, a 58-year-old woman, said.

"I was 25-year-old when women were allowed to pull chariots in Baripada", Mishra said adding that there was lot of criticism then as women came out and pulled a chariot in public.

Though, there was no provision of allowing women to pull Subhadra's chariot in Puri, the origin of 'rath yatra', women in the state capital, in Rourkela, in Berhampur and some other small towns have been pulling chariots in recent years.

"Though we had been trying to allow women pull Subhadra's chariot, district administration was not cooperating. This time the women were allowed to pull the chariot after the Khurda district administration provided all facilities", said a functionary of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple.