The Jagannath Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, holds great significance in Hinduism. It symbolises the annual journey of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, to the Gundicha Temple, which is regarded as the birthplace of the deities.
The Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, is known as one of the largest congregations of devotees in the world, where millions of people gather to witness the divine procession.
The Rath Yatra, which involves the pulling of chariots carrying Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra, will be held on June 20.
Indian Railways has taken several steps to accommodate the heavy rush during the Rath Yatra period. East Coast Railway in a release on Sunday, June 18, said that the Rath Yatra Special trains will be operated for the passengers visiting Puri during the 9-day car festival. The special trains will be operated till June 30.
The special trains will be operated from different towns of Odisha as well as neighbouring states like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. According to EastCoast Railway, the trains will be operating from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Paradip, Gunupur, Sambalpur, Jagdalpur, Rourkela and Angul in Odisha and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Puri.
The Visakhapatnam-Puri special train number 08901, will commence its journey from Visakhapatnam at 2:30 PM on June 19 and 27. It is scheduled to arrive in Puri the following day at 1:15 AM. On the return journey, the Puri-Visakhapatnam train, number 08902, will depart from Puri at 10:55 PM on June 20 and 28, reaching Visakhapatnam at 7:30 AM the next day.
The train will comprise one coach for 3AC, three coaches for Sleeper class, ten coaches of the General Second Class, and two coaches that serve as a combination of Luggage and Brake van or Divyangjan facilities.
The Jagdalpur-Puri special train number 08057 will depart from Jagdalpur at 10 AM on June 19 and 28, with an expected arrival in Puri at 4 AM the next day. The Puri-Jagdalpur train, identified as 08058, will leave Puri at 9:30 PM on June 20 and 29, reaching Jagdalpur at 12 noon the following day.
The train will consist of one 3AC coach, eight sleeper coaches, three general coaches, one chair car-1 coach, and two luggage cum Brake van/Divyangjan coaches.
Meanwhile, due to the restoration activities taking place at Bahanaga station along the Kharagpur-Bhadrak section of the South Eastern Railway, several train services had to be cancelled. The affected trains include Shalimar-Hyderabad (18045), Hyderabad-Shalimar (18046), and Guwahati-Secunderabad (02605) on June 18. Furthermore, the Secunderabad-Agartala (07030) train scheduled for June 19 was also canceled.
