Police sources said the car festival went off peacefully without any untoward incident with tight security arrangements. Restrictions were imposed on vehicular movement at several places to make smooth way for the chariots and the devotees.
Traffic on NH-5 was diverted to make way for the three chariots from the Iskcon Temple, which were pulled to Gundicha temple at Unit-8. "The pulling of chariots was peaceful and smooth due to proper traffic management. There will be special programmes everyday at the Gundicha temple till the return festival on July 7, when the lords return to their abode," said chairman of the festival organizing committee of Iskcon, Upendra Das.
Old town area, which is more famous for Rukuna Rath — the car festival of lord Lingaraj — wore a festive look on Sunday as the three chariots were pulled in Jambeswar Patna Sahi. What made the festival different from others is that the chariots were pulled by children only, making it a grand show.
"We follow the same rituals like in other temples of the state but the chariot is pulled by children of the area, who performed the rituals and also pulled the chariots from Charu Narayani temple to Ganga Jamuna temple - considered the Mausima temple, on Badheibanka Square road," said a local resident Subas Kumar Barik.
Setting an example of communal harmony, Muslims pulled the chariot of Lord Jagannath, along with Hindu devotees, at the CRPF campus here. "We feel happy and proud to be a part of the festival. After covering about 100 metres, the chariot halted in front of a Masjid inside the campus where people of Muslim community joined with Hindus to pull away the chariot," said S P Ali, a CRPF employee.
More than 30,000 devotees took part in the yatra at KISS campus.
