Mamata Banerjee flags off Kolkata Rathyatra

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today flagged off this year’s 47th Kolkata Rathyatra at ISKCON’s Albert road temple here.

Organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) since 1971, the Rathayatra attracted a large number of devotees who pulled the chariots of deities of Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra on the occasion.

Banerjee amd Governor K N Tripathi had wished the people of the state on the eve of the Rathayatra festival.

Starting from the city’s Hungerford Street opposite the ISKCON temple on Albert Road, the chariots moved through AJC Bose Road, Sarat Bose Road, Hazra Road, SP Mukherjee Road, ATM Road, Exide crossing, JL Nehru Road, Outram Road before reaching the Brigade Parade Ground, where arrangements have been made for daily special darshan of Lord Jagananth, till July 22, ISKCON sources said.

The ‘Ultarathayatra’ will start on July 22 noon, when the chariots would return to the Albert Road temple.

On their return journey, the chariots would pass through Outram Road, JL Nehru Road, S N Banerjee Road, CIT Road, Park Circus 7 point crossing before taking the Shakespeare Sarani to reach the ISKCON temple on Albert Road, the sources said.

The Rathayatra was also celebrated at the global headquarter of ISKCON at Mayapur in Nadia district where around a lakh devotees gathered.

Around 1,000 devotees from 62 countries sang ‘kirtans’ and danced all through the 6-km stretch from Rajapur Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple, a grand structure constructed adjacent to Prabhupad Ghat at Mayapur, the ISKCON sources said.

Inaugurating the celebration at Mayapur, Justice Sambhudh Chakraborty of Calcutta High Court said that Jagannath Rathyatra signifies the progress of life and humanity.