With just three days to go for Rath Yatra celebrations, city temples gear up to take lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and devi Subhadra to their maternal aunt’s place, riding on the chariot. After muted celebrations in the last two years, this year brings new hope for the devotees.

Belgharia Rathtala Sree Jagannath Mandir will have three chariots for the three deities all 30ft tall with the idols being of 4ft height, presented to the temple by one of the main servitors at Puri temple, Jagannath Daitapati.

Councillor from Ward 23, Kamarhati Municipality, Somnath Roy Choudhury is the force behind the Rath Yatra at . He said, “The budget for our Rath Yatra this year is close to Rs 90 lakh. Priests from Puri Jagannath temple perform the puja. Thirty seven artisans from Puri have been working on the chariots for the last three months.”

Jagannath Temple at Barrackpore is also a big draw for the Odia population in and around Kolkata. The temple, which is more than 100 years old, is expecting a footfall of 50,000 people during the festivities from Barrackpore, Barasat, Salt Lake, Jadavpur and Seerampur.

Manoranjan Patnaik, secretary of the Jagannath Temple committee said, “Our budget this year is Rs 5 lakh for the Rath Yatra. We will be holding cultural festivals during the nine days, which is one of the main attractions for the members here. The chariots are almost complete, just the colouring needs the finish. One of the local jute mills is sponsoring the cost of the rath (chariot).”

The Jagannath Temple at Khidirpur is having muted celebrations this year, said the organizers due to change in venue. One of the most popular Rath Yatras in the city, they celebrated at Swabhumi near Phoolbagan for the nine-day stay of lord Jagannath at his maternal aunt’s place.

Pradip Mahapatra, one of the organizers of the Rath Yatra of the temple, said, “We have been celebrating at Swabhumi for the last 15 years. Due to unavailability of the venue, the lord’s stay for nine days will be at 25 Palli in Harisabha Puja grounds in Khidirpur. We are doing it in a smaller way due to the change in venue. Mayor Firhad Hakim will be inaugurating the celebrations on 2 June.”

“The collections were weak this year due to the effect of Covid-19, which is one of the reasons for the muted celebrations,” said another organizer of Jagannath temple Khidirpur.

Odias@ Kolkata Welfare Association, which has between 650-700 members in the city contributes to the celebrations by taking part in the cultural functions held around the festival. Guru Patnaik, president of the association said, “After the pandemic, this year the devotees are looking forward to the festivities this year.