People pull the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra during the annual Rath Yatra at the Jagannath Temple, in Puri, Odisha, Friday, June 27, 2025. (PTI Photo)
“There were no casualties,” Satapathy said.
Officials said around 70 people remained under treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital, and nine were in critical condition.
A large number of injuries were also reported from the Balagandi area, where Lord Balabhadra’s chariot, Taladhwaja, was stuck for over an hour. The blockage caused severe crowding, and several people were hurt while trying to escape the congestion, a local official said.
Volunteers from both government and private groups helped move the injured to hospitals.
Meanwhile, Lord Jagannath devotees will get another chance to pull the chariots today as none of them reached their destination on Friday after Balabhadra’s Taladwaja chariot got stuck while negotiating a turn, causing delays that prevented the others from arriving at Gundicha Temple, 2.6km away from the 12th-century shrine.
“There is no major issue. It is not unusual for chariots to be pulled on the following day. All rituals were conducted on time. There have been no accidents or untoward incidents,” Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said.
When Lord Balabhadra’s chariot came to a halt at Balagandi Chhak, Devi Subhadra’s Darpadalan was stopped at Marichkote in Puri town. Meanwhile, Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosh chariot was only symbolically pulled as part of the ritual and remains parked near the main temple.
An estimated one million devotees gathered in Puri for the annual Rath Yatra, according to officials.
(With PTI inputs)
