Shri Jagannath Rath Yatra Taken Out With Fervour In HP's Nahan

Jagannath Rath Yatra was taken out in this Himachal Pradesh town with fervour on Sunday with tens of thousands of residents participating in the holy procession and paying obeisance to the deity.
     
Religious leaders of all sects of society, including Muslims and Sikhs, welcomed the Rath Yatra at different places in the town.
     
The yatra that started from the 352-years-old Shri Jagannath temple situated in the Bara Chowk area of the town was formally flagged off from Chowgan ground by Nahan MLA Ajay Solanki, after performing pooja as per the Vedic tradition.  
     
As soon as the chariot left Chaugan ground, thousands of residents joined in and pulled it. The procession took a complete day to take a round of the town.  
     
Head of Shri Jagannath Ji Rath Yatra Mandal, Nahan Prakash Bansal, the organiser of the procession, said this event was initiated on the pattern of world famous Rath Yatra of Shri Jagannath Puri in 2009 by some enthusiastic youths of the town.
     
It has now become the biggest religious event of the year. It attracts thousands of devotees from Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, and Uttarakhand every year, he added.  
     
The local market remained closed on Sunday as traders decided to participate in the Rath Yatra.