Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath to be held sans devotees in Puri

Bhubaneswar: Rath Yatra will be held without any devotees in Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri this year on July 12 with restrictions, informed Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Kumar Jena on Thursday.

The government also prohibited Rath Yatra at any other temple in the state in view of the Covid situation.

Jena said the nine-day long sojourn of the deities will be held in Puri with strict adherence to guidelines laid out by the Supreme Court.

The servitors testing Covid negative or those fully vaccinated will be allowed to participate in the rituals.

As per the Supreme Court’s guidelines, only 500 servitors will be allowed to pull each chariot during the festival.

Live telecast of the festival will be facilitated by the I&PR department.