High security for festive Baripada

BARIPADA: The district is gearing up to celebrate the chariot festival, which kicks off on Sunday. At least one lakh pilgrims are likely to throng Bada Danda (Grand Road) leading to the Jagannath temple here.
The 436-year-old Rath Yatra at Baripada is considered second in importance only to Puri. Security has been beefed up for the festival, police sources said here today.At least 12 platoons of armed forces, 100 police officers, 100 home guards, eight inspectors, four DSPs and one additional SP are being deployed to ensure a smooth chariot ride for the celestial siblings, sources said. Besides this, three temporary police outposts will be set up at different strategic places of the Grand Road, which will function from July 3 to July 13, sources added.
The Lord's temple at Baripada was built by Maharaja Baidyanath Bhanj Deo in 1575 and the Rath Yatra here began in the same year. Every year during Rath, hundreds of tribals dressed in their traditional attire travel from remote areas to watch the three massive chariots rolling on Grand Road. Pilgrims and tourists from Jharkhand, West Bengal and various parts of Orissa visit the town to take part in the annual sojourn of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother, Balabhdra, and their sister, Subhadra.
The unique feature of the Baripada festival is that only women devotees get to pull the Subhadra's chariot. This tradition, which began in the International Women's Year, 1975, has been continuing for the last 36 years. This gender-specific event was mooted and implemented by the then district collector of Mayurbhanj, Vivekananda Pattanayak, according to sources.