PURI, INDIA, June 20, 2023 (Indian Express): Surya Prakash Mahapatra wields a wooden hammer and chisel on a log with the confidence of a master carver. Dressed in a red T-shirt and black shorts, the 11-year-old sweats as he carves along the chalk outlines of flowers and animals on the log under the watchful eye of two experienced rupakar servitors (woodcarvers). The class 7 student has been learning woodcarving since he was just 5. Surya\u2019s school is located in the Ratha Khala, barely 1,640 feet from the 12th century Jagannath Temple in Puri, where three breathtaking chariots used in Puri\u2019s annual Rath Yatra are cut, carved, chiseled, painted, polished and assembled each year \u2014 all manually \u2014 and his teachers are his father and grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s yatra expects to see the arrival of nearly 1.5 million devotees from across the globe. Over 150 pairs of hands belonging to laborers, carpenters, artists, painters, etc., worked in tandem to shape over 800 logs into three magnificent chariots by working for 12 hours a day from Akshaya Tritiya onwards, nearly two months before the much-awaited event. The yatra, which takes place on the second day of the Odia month of Ashadh Shukla Tithi, sees sibling Deities \u2014 Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath \u2014 embark on a 1.86 mile journey to their aunt\u2019s residence at the Gundicha Temple in three gigantic chariots pulled by devotees with the help of 250-feet long ropes made using coconut fibers. The Bahuda Yatra, which marks their return home, will be celebrated with the same fervor on June 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n