Chariot pulling underway in Lord Jagannath's return car festival

Puri, Jul 15 (PTI) Thousands of devotees pulled the chariots of sibling deities - Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra - on the 'Bahuda Yatra' or return car festival which began here on Monday.
    Though the pulling of chariots was slated to start at 4 pm, it began ahead of the schedule amid chants of 'Jai Jagannath' and beating of cymbals.
Devotees start pulling Lord Balabhdra’s chariot ‘Taladwaja’ at 3.25 pm and Devi Subhadra’s ‘Devadalan’ at 4 pm. Pulling of Lord Jagannath’s chariot ‘Nandighosh’ began at 4.15 pm.
The chariot pulling started after Puri’s titular king ‘Gajapati Maharaj’ Divya Singha Deb performed ‘cheerapahanra’, a ritual during which he swept the three chariots with the help of a golden broom by sprinkling sacred water.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)