Puri Rath Yatra: Accident during Sunabesha festival in Puri Rath Yatra, one dead; more than 70 injured

A huge crowd gathered in Puri on Sunday during the 'Sunabesha' (gold dress) festival of Rath Yatra. Meanwhile, several accidents took place in which a devotee died and more than 70 people were injured. The deceased has been identified as 52-year-old Babaji Behera, who was a resident of Jagatsinghpur district. He was watching 'Sunabesha' with his wife from Radhaballabh Math near the Singhadwar of the Jagannath temple. Then suddenly a monkey came and he fell and got a serious head injury.

He was first taken to Puri District Hospital, but when his condition deteriorated, he was taken to SCB Medical College in Cuttack. He died on the way. Doctors declared him dead at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. During this time, more than 70 other people were also injured in various accidents. Of these, about 40 people have broken bones. The condition of a woman is said to be critical. Many people were discharged from the hospital after primary treatment.

Police issued an alert due to a heavy crowd.

However, to control the crowd, the police gave information through LED screens, drones, social media, and SMS alerts on the Bhubaneswar-Puri highway. Due to heavy traffic, there was a wait of up to three hours in Malatipatpur and Batagaon. At the same time, the DGP of Odisha himself is monitoring the crowd control from the ICCC. He has also appealed to the devotees to follow the rules and maintain restraint.

Let us tell you that this accident happened a week after the incident when three devotees died and 50 others were injured in a stampede near the Gundicha temple. At the same time, six people were injured while pulling the chariot during the 'Bahuda Yatra' in Binika town of Subarnapur district. These include three children who were under the wheels of the chariot and were injured.

15 lakh devotees witnessed Jagannath Ji's Sunabesha festival in Puri

It is worth mentioning that on Sunday, about 15 lakh devotees gathered in Puri for the 'Sunabesha' (gold dress) darshan of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. The deities seated on chariots in front of the 12th century Srimandir were decorated with gold ornaments.

What is the history of the Sunabesha festival?

The tradition of Sunabesha has been going on since 1460, when King Kapilendra Dev donated a lot of gold to the temple after victory in the war. The deities were decorated with about 208 kg of gold ornaments. Lord Jagannath had a gold chakra and silver conch in his hand, Balabhadra had a gold plow and mace, and Devi Subhadra also had many gold ornaments. A large number of police forces were deployed during this grand darshan. 205 platoons of state police, 800 central force personnel, drones, and AI technology monitored the crowd and traffic.