In the backdrop of a terror threat, the world-famous Ratha Yatra festival was celebrated amidst tight security and religious fervour.
A woman was killed and three others were on Tuesday injured in a stampede during pulling of Ratha Yatra chariots from the Sri Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa, in which hundreds of thousand people took part.
Jihadi outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba are planning attacks in Odisha and Maharashtra besides making fresh recruitment efforts in the Northeast, Assam DGP Jayanta Narayan Choudhury said.
Chief Secretary A K Tripathy and Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay rushed to the pilgrim town to make the necessary arrangements. "The DGP and I are rushing to Puri to take stock of the situation as per the direction of the chief minister. We will camp there," Tripathy said.
An estimated 9 lakh devotees witnessed the world famous 'Ratha Yatra' of Lord Jagannath on Wednesday with religious fervour, enthusiasm and a spirit of camaraderie amid tight security.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries greeted the people on Lord Jagannath's annual car festival.
Around 10 lakh people are expected to gather for the festival in the temple town from across the country, and some foreign nations, director of health service Bijay Mohapatra said.
Chants of 'Jai Jagannath' rent the air all over as the news about the Supreme Court giving its nod for holding the world famous car festival in the pilgrim town reached the state bringing cheers among people, irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
The revocation comes a day after heads of 4 Shaivite maths called on Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai and following an outcry against the ban by devotees, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu outfits.
Out of the total 22 tableaux, 16 were of various states and UTs and six of ministries, departments and the National Disaster Response Force.
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