India, June 27 -- The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, began in Odisha's temple town of Puri on Friday morning with the three deities embarking on their journey to the Sri Gundicha Temple for a nine-day sojourn.

After the rituals like mangal arati, abakash, tadap lagi, mailum, rosa homa, suryapuja, and offering of Gopal bhog tothe deities, the servitors of the temple began the process of carrying the three deities from the temple to the decorated chariots placed on the Bada Danda or Grand Road.AfterGajapati Dibyasingha Debof the erstwhile Puri royal family does the ceremonial sweeping of the chariots, tens of thousands of devotees will pull chariots Nandighosa, Taladhwaja, and Darpa...