Ahmedabad, July 16 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday performed the traditional ‘Pahand Vidhi’ at the historic Shree Jagannath Mandir in the Jamalpur area of Ahmedabad, marking the ceremonial start of the city’s 149th Jagannath Rath Yatra.

The Chief Minister performed the centuries-old ritual of symbolically sweeping the path before the chariots with a golden broom, signifying humility and service before Lord Jagannath.

The Pahand Vidhi is performed just before the three chariots carrying the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra leave the temple for their annual procession through the city.

Thousands of devotees gathered at the temple in the early hours to witness the ritual and the commencement of one of Gujarat’s largest religious processions.

Earlier in the morning, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah attended the Mangala Aarti and offered prayers at the temple before the deities were placed on the chariots.

The annual Rath Yatra, held on the occasion of Ashadhi Bij, begins from the nearly 400-year-old Shree Jagannath Mandir in Jamalpur and follows its traditional route across Ahmedabad before returning to the temple later in the day.

Regarded as India’s second-largest Jagannath Rath Yatra after Puri, the procession draws lakhs of devotees every year.

This year’s yatra includes the three main chariots, 18 elephants, dozens of akhadas, devotional music groups and decorated tableaux.

Authorities have put in place extensive security and civic arrangements for the event.

More than 31,000 police and security personnel have been deployed along the traditional 16.2-km route, supported by artificial intelligence-enabled surveillance, facial recognition technology, drones, high-resolution CCTV cameras and body-worn cameras to monitor the procession in real time.

Special elephant monitoring systems, GPS trackers and movement sensors have also been introduced to enhance safety following last year’s incidents involving elephants.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and other agencies have made arrangements for sanitation, drinking water, medical services, emergency response, traffic management and uninterrupted civic services to facilitate the smooth conduct of the procession, while police have established a multi-layered security grid across the route.

–IANS

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