Ahmedabad: Annual Car festival was celebrated at the Jagannath Temple situated at Adalaj in Gujarat with fanfare and spiritual fervour, informed the Secretary of Jagannath cultural research centre Badri Mohspatra.

Shree Jagannath chariot pulling ceremony drew unusual enthusiasm and unprecedented excitement among the visitors. Around 20,000 Odia and Non Odia devotees gathered here in and around Adalaj and nearby areas to witness the religious event which had the special feature of a drone over the chariot with flying Sudarshan chakra.

Adequate arrangements were made to maintain discipline. Series of special worshippings were undertaken since midnight before the idols in the temple since the wee hours of the auspicious day. Around 8.30 a.m., the Pahandi Bije of four deities to the colourfully decorated chariot stationed infront of the temple started. The entire atmosphere got reverberated with the recitals of hymns, roaring of slogans like Haribol and Jai Jagannath, sounding of Huluhuli, blowing of conch and playing of musical instruments like Ghanta, Kartala, Mardala, Jhanja and Mrudanga by the devotees. The highlight of the celebration was the Pahandi of Maa Subhadra exclusively carried on by women.

The Chief Guest of the ceremony Chief Minister Of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel was accorded a warm welcome by the Chairman of JCARC Dr Sudip Kumar Nanda and other organisers. Dr Nanda presented The Royal Cap And Golden Broom to the CM as a mark of honour. At around 9.15 a.m. the traditional sweeping in front of the chariot called Chhera pahanra was performed by the Chief Minister. Other distinguished guests present include Minister Raghavjibhai Hansrajbhai Patel and Rajya Sabha M.P. Narahari Amin. At around 10.30 a.m. the pulling of chariot commenced. The royal chariot with the four deities onboard was pulled by the devotees till 3 km to Maa Annapurna temple and then was taken back to the premises of the temple at around noon.

The Mahaprasad was offered to the participants at Maa Annapurna Temple during noon at Adalaj Temple from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. In the afternoon the deities were taken back from the chariot in Pahandi and placed at the Pandal of makeshift Aunt’s House located in the Community Hall at the Ground Floor of the Temple.

The arrangements were organised by Chairman of Orissa Association and JCARC Dr Sudip Kumar Nanda, President of Orissa Association Hare Krushna Dash, Member Secretary of JCARC and General Secretary of Orissa Association Dr Badri Mahapatra and Chairperson of Temple Committee Leela Dash. Other members of Orissa Association including Maheshwar Sahu, Dr Nibedita Sahu, Banchanidhi Pani, Rabi Panda, Ashok Samal, Satya Mishra, Narayan Swain, Ajaya Das, Mahendra Das, Rajesh Samal, Dilip Jena, Rohit Nayak, Nigamananda Das, Dilip Bal, Sandhya Panda and Ganesh Sabat participated in the event.