Thousands take part in Lord Jagannath's rath yatra

Thousands of devotees joined the rathyatra of Lord Jagannath, which began in Ahmedabad on Tuesday morning from the Jagganath temple in Jamalpur amid tight security.

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Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, as per tradition, symbolically cleaned the road outside the temple, from where the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balram and their sister Subhadra will pass.

Thousands of devotees joined the procession as it started its journey through the 14-kilometre long route including some communally sensitive areas, in old city.

The yatra, oldest in the state, had devotees lined up alongside the chariots of Lord Jagannath, brother Balram and sister Subhadra.

The yatra will see participation of 18 decorated elephants, 98 decorated trucks apart from three big decorated raths of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balram and Subhadra, which will be pulled by 1,000 devotees.

The main chariots are closely followed by colourfully adorned elephants, trucks, motor vehicles, pilgrims on foot, acrobats and gymnasts.

The rath yatra of Lord Jagannath, which is the biggest in the state, would be held under tight security arrangements with over 14,000 policemen deployed across the city along with 4,500 home guards.

Forty cameras have been set up for continuous video recording and monitoring of the rath yatra, while 200 specially trained men by the Anti-Terrorism Squad would screen the yatra route before it passes through the area.

Four Bomb Disposal Squads, nine Quick Response Teams, and 27 mobile Police Control Room (PCR) vans would also be deployed for the rathyatra in the city.