Jagannath Dev's Rath Yatra was held in a festive atmosphere in Bogra

Sanju Roy, Bogra: Thousands of devotees chanted 'Joy Jagannath' in a festive atmosphere in Bogra on Friday. Like every year, this rath yatra of Jagannath Deva is organized on the second day of Shukla Paksha of Ashar. At the initiative of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Agnihotra Yajna was held at the Sejgari ISKCON temple from morning till the end of the day. Bogra Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Samar Kumar Pal inaugurated the procession from the city's Sejgari ISKCON office in the afternoon. ISKCON Bogra Principal Kharajita Krishna Das presided over the inauguration. Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad Central Committee Executive Member Dilip Kumar Dev, Bogra District Puja Udjapan Parishad President Sagar Kumar Roy and General Secretary Nirmal Roy, former president of the organization Amrit Lal Saha, Police Lines Shiv Mandir Committee President Anand Mohan Pal, National Athlete Gopal Tewari, Chanchal Mohan Roy, Puja Udjapan Parishad Bogra Municipal Committee President Parimal Prasad Raj, General Secretary Sujit Talukder, Joint General Secretary Journalist Sanju Roy, Organizing Secretary Shekhar Roy and other religious leaders were present. Meanwhile, one of the biggest rath yatras of the city started from Seujgari in the city, passed through Satmatha in the center, Thanamor, Baragola, Dattabari, passed through Kalitala, passed through Satmatha and ended at Sri Sri Police Lines Shiva Temple. The main festival of Rath Yatra will be celebrated in this Shiva temple till the reverse Rath Yatra ceremony. On the same day, another rath yatra from the Chelopara Haribasar temple in the city ended at the Dattabari Devseva Trustee temple like every year. The presence of devotees was also noticeable. Regarding the formality and overall management of the Rath Yatra this year, Parimal Prasad Raj, President of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad Municipal Committee, said that they have completed all the formalities of the Rath Yatra very well amidst the strict security measures of the administration. He said that after a long hiatus during the Corona period, about 5,000 devotees participated in the festival in Bogra. About 5,000 bottles of water and food were provided to the devotees on behalf of their organization. He said that despite controlling such a large crowd, more than 500 volunteers have worked for ISKCON volunteers as well as the Puja Udjapan Parishad this year so that the discipline was commendable. Meanwhile, on the occasion of the Rath Yatra in Bogra, the image of providing security for the district police was eye-catching. Talking to Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Finance) Ali Haider Chowdhury about the overall security arrangements, he said that three levels of security measures have been taken by the district police to ensure that no one can cause any disturbance during the religious festival. Where the police in the dress and the white robes surround the entire assembly in the strict security enclosure. Apart from this security measure of the district police, the activities of various units of the administration under the supervision of Additional District Magistrate Salahuddin Ahmed on behalf of the district administration at the Rath Yatra festival were also commendable. Note that according to the traditional religion, Krishna, Subhadra and Balarama are in this chariot. Their belief is that if they see the dwarf Jagannath Deva on the chariot, they will not be reborn and at the same time, the rope of the chariot is pulled with devotion and great virtue is recognized in the traditional religion.