Puri : Tragedy struck the historic Puri Rath Yatra when one woman was killed and three others injured following a stampede on Tuesday.
The stampede took place when the woman fell down while Lord Balabhadra's chariot was being pulled. She was taken to a local hospital but had already died, doctors said. The other injured women were rescued by devotees.
Lakhs of devotees had thronged the holy city of Puri to take part in the celebrations where Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of the 12th century temple in Puri, sets off on his annual sojourn to his aunt's house accompanied by elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra on three majestic wooden chariots.
Special rituals like Mangla arati and Mailam were held before the deities proceeded out of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple after descending from the Ratna Sinhasana, the bejewelled throne.
The three deities were taken down the 22 steps of the temple known as 'baisi pahacha' through the Lion's gate in an elaborate royal ritual called 'Pahandi' to the beating of gongs as devotees and sevayats jostled each other to have a closer look and to touch them.
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