Feverish spiritual fervor gripped Odisha’s seaside pilgrim town of Puri as lakhs of devotees thronged the abode of Lord Jagannath to witness the famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and their sister Devi Subhadra on Sunday.

In a departure from practice, this year’s Rath Yatra will be a two-day affair due to specific celestial arrangements. The chariots of the lords will roll on the grand road of the pilgrim town for two days. Earlier, the festival was a two-day affair in 1973, about 53 years ago.

The grand ceremony of pulling the three majestic and colourfully decorated chariots on the “Bada Danda”, the grand avenue, in front of the 12th century Jagannath temple is scheduled to commence late afternoon today after the completion of rituals and will continue on Monday.

Rituals of the deities like ‘Nabajouban Darshan’ and ‘Netra Utsav’ are conducted ahead of the Yatra. But it will be held today, coinciding with the Rath Yatra due to celestial arrangements of Hindu calendar.

‘Nabajouban Darshan’ signifies the youthful appearance of deities, who were behind the doors for 15 days, called ‘Anasara’ (quarantine), after ‘Snana Purnima’. The deities fall sick due to excess bathing on ‘Snana Purnima’ and therefore remain indoors. Prior to ‘Nabajouban Darshan’, the priests performed the special ritual called ‘Netra Utsav’ in which the eyeballs of the deities are painted afresh.

The annual festival showcases the journey of the Holy Triad journey to their maternal aunt, Goddess Gundicha Devi’s Temple, and concludes with their return after eight days. Ahead of the Yatra, the chariots have been parked in front of the Lion’s Gate of the Jagannath temple from where they would be taken to Gundicha temple where the Raths will stay for a week.

Meanwhile, the Puri coast has come under a massive air and maritime security blanket to thwart possible subversive activity in the pilgrim town, Coast Guard officials said.

The air surveillance is being maintained from a Dornier aircraft over the pilgrim town. Two Coast Guard ships have been deployed for round-the-clock patrolling to avert possible sea-route subversive ploy. The coast guard is acting in cohesion with the marine wing of Odisha police for shallow water patrolling, CG sources added.

Multi-layer security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the festival. CCTVs have been installed at various strategic locations as a security measure, said senior police officials.

Artificial Intelligence-based CCTV cameras have been installed at Grand road, the venue of the festival, and other strategic locations in the pilgrim town. As many as 180 platoons (one platoon comprises 30 personnel) of security personnel of both the state and central governments have been deployed to look after law and order and crowd management during the festival, they added.