Bhubaneswar: Puri Rath Yatra, this year in 2025, had seen many deaths due to continuous stampede happening during the festival and when the Raths of the three deities were in front of the Gundicha Temple. As reported, more than 10 people have lost their lives during the kart festival.
Reportedly, the management was not up to the mark in terms of controlling the crowd, conducting the Yatra and rituals as per the scheduled time. The tragedy is inexcusable because it was resulted by mismanagement and negligence. There are 10-11 deaths including 60 people injured and admitted to the nearby hospital.
During the historic Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath temple, Puri, the three deities, Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra visit their aunt’s house for nine days on Shri Gundicha and return back on Bahuda Yatra. The day when they start their visit is known as Shri Gundicha because the name of their aunt is Gundicha. Whereas the day the deities return to their main abode is called Bahuda.
According to the police, the stampede began on the Rath Ytra when two big trucks carrying materials for the rituals of the festival near the chariots. The chaos happned when the deities were already seated on the chariot. There were thousands of devotees gathered to have a glimpse of the three deities at the Bada Danda, where the cart festival is conducted .
The government of the state has released an official notice of providing 25 lakhs to the family members of the deceased. The chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has apologized for the mishaps. The opposition leader and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik has stated the management should have been more profound and planned. The divine Rath Yatra is observed every year and this is the proof of the present government’s incompetence to have not been able to handle the pious, peaceful cart festival of Lord Jagannath and making it a nightmare for the devotees.
-OdishaAge
