Many channels to telecast Rath Yatra live

Sulochana Das Bhubaneswar: Doordarshan Kendra Bhubaneswar and many other Odia television channels were all set to telecast the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath live from the holy town of Puri in coastal Odisha on June 29.Apart from Doordarshan national and Doordarshan Odia, the other channels that have started making preparations to telecast the annual event live from Bada Danda (Grand Road) are Odisha Television (OTV), ETV-Odia and newly-launched channel Focus Odisha.Some other Odisha-based channels that are likely to telecast the car festival of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra by procuring live feed of the mega event from other channels include Prarthana TV, Kanak TV, MBC and Naxatra TV.Besides, the Rath Yatra was also likely to be webcast live by many websites.Over 10 lakh devotees from different parts of the world are likely to congregate in Puri during the nine-day-long Rath Yatra or Shri Gundicha Yatra.The devotees who had thought of climbing the chariots on during the Rath Yatra from Bada Deula, the Shri Jagannath temple to Shri Gundicha temple; Bahuda or the return journey of the deities, and Suna Besha days were so far not sure whether they will be allowed or not.The uncertainty is prevailing because Puri Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati and the Naveen Patnaik Government had expressed different views over devotees climbing the chariots.While the Shankaracharya had suggested a complete ban on devotees climbing the chariots of the three deities, the State government had said after discussing the issue with the Daitapati servitors that devotees will not be allowed to climb the chariots on the days of Rath Yatra, Bahuda Yatra and Suna Besha.The government, however, was mum about other days.On the other hand, various Departments of the State government as well as the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration have started making necessary arrangements to make the Rath Yatra successful and peaceful as well.The State police have also initiated measures to heighten the security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident during the Yatra.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and a host of other dignitaries were scheduled to remain present on the Grand Road of Puri on the Rath Yatra day to witness the annual Yatra of the deities.