Women line up to tug Subhadra's chariot

BARIPADA: Woman power was at display as the 12-wheel Devidalana chariot of goddess Subhadra at Bada Danda here on Monday was pulled exclusively by women devotees.
Amid furious clanging of cymbals, drumbeats, and beating of gongs, the Devidalana reached near the town police station at about 5 pm. It will resume its journey on Tuesday afternoon and reach Mausima temple followed by 16-wheel Nandighosh, Lord Jagannath's chariot.Lord Balabhadra's 14-wheel Taladhwaja moved first and reached the Mausi temple at around 4.30 pm. While Subhadra's chariot is pulled exclusively by women, the chariots of her siblings are pulled by both genders.
"Last year we had seen the first woman collector of Mayurbhanj, Aswathy S, participating in pulling Subhadra's chariot and cheering women devotees. This year, the district has a woman SP, Dr Soorya Thankpan, and a woman vice-chancellor of the North Orissa University, Sanghamitra Mohanty, leading the chariot pulling," said Jharna Rani Das, secretary of the Kalyani Mahila Samiti, a women's organisation in Mayurbhanj.
More than one lakh devotees attended the celebrations, held here a day later than the Yatra in Puri. Bishakha Ghose, who had come all the way from Jamshedpur, 150 km from here, said she was greatly enamored with the spectacular event. "I was thrilled to participate in the pulling of Subhadra's chariot. The gender specific event is symbolic of women empowerment," said Monalisa Soren, a postgraduate student from Raikadjharan village.
The second phase of the Ratha Yatra will begin on July 11 with Bahuda Pahandi, the two-day pulling of the chariots on July 12 and July 13.