Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath held in Odisha’s Puri is one of the oldest Yatra that takes place across the country. This year, the annual ritual is scheduled for July 12. Ahead of the Yatra, Puri artist Biswajit Nayak has created Lord Jagannath’s chariot using 975 ice cream sticks. Nayak has earlier garnered headlines for his creativity with ice cream sticks. Talking about his latest creation to ANI, the artist informed that he has created a miniature of Nandighosa’s chariot. Nayak said that he has tried to ensure the same specifications which are at Lord’s chariot. The miniature of Nandighosa’s chariot has 16 wheels and four horses. He shared that it took him five days to complete the design.
Earlier this Odisha-based artist had created a miniature statue of the ‘Gajanana Besha’ of Lord Jagannath. Nayak had used 1,475 ice cream sticks to make the idol for the Snana Purnima at Jagannath temple. The miniature idol was 30-inch tall and 26-inch wide, and Nayak had taken 15 days to complete it.
Odisha: An artist from Puri creates a miniature of Nandighosa's chariot (of lord Jagannath) with 975 ice cream sticks"I've made it as of same specifications as lord's chariot. It has 16 wheels & four horses. It took me five days to complete this," said Biswajit Nayak (07.07) pic.twitter.com/hQ2e0c4sdn
— ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2021
Snana Purnima at the Puri Jagannath temple was celebrated with COVID-19 guidelines in place. The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, every year, is conducted across Odisha. But due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Odisha state government had allowed Rath Yatra only at Puri Jagannath temple with COVID-19 protocols in place. The state government had permitted rituals only within the temple premises.
Following this, several petitions were filed in Supreme Court which claimed that the Odisha government’s decision to not permit Rath Yatra across the state was ‘against their right to religion.’ On July 06, the apex court rejected the petitions that were seeking permission to conduct Rath Yatra across Odisha.
Odisha government informed the bench-headed CJI N V Ramana that it will not be possible for them to ensure that COVID-19 protocols strictly adhere to thousands of Jagannath temples that are built across the state.
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