Jagannath Rath Yatra 2019: Ram Nath Kovind, Narendra Modi extend greetings on occasion of Odisha's 'chariot festival'

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday extended greetings to the citizens on the auspicious occasion of Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra. Taking to Twitter, the official account of Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted, “Greetings and good wishes to fellow citizens on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra. May the blessings of Lord Jagannath bring peace, happiness and prosperity to everyone’s lives.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi also greeted everyone on the occasion of the Rath Yatra and prayed to Lord Jagannath. “Best wishes to everyone on the special occasion of the Rath Yatra. We pray to Lord Jagannath and seek his blessings for the good health, happiness and prosperity of everyone. Jai Jagannath,” Modi tweeted.

Odisha: Celebrations underway at Puri for #JagannathRathYatra . pic.twitter.com/junpqlM6i8

— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2019

The Rath Yatra, also known as Gundicha Yatra of Lord Jagannatha and his siblings, commenced from Thursday. In the Rath Yatra, three chariots for the deities — Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannatha and Devi Subhadra are constructed every year. These sacred carriers are prepared, decorated and assembled by the traditional artists. The craftsmen follow strict rules to participate as servitors in preparing the chariots, which commence on the day of Akshay Tritiya. Thousands of handcrafters work for several months and prepare everything from scratch. Starting from cutting the wood to painting it and putting different parts of Rath together, everything is done with complete authenticity. The prime attractions of the Rath Yatra of Jagannatha are the elaborate chariots. The decorative wooden idols of the three deities are pulled and accompanied by chants and conches, which can be heard all around.