The Odisha government on Wednesday announced that devotees would not be allowed to climb the three chariots during the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra or the Car Festival in Puri.

“After a meeting with the servitors, it has been decided that devotees will not be allowed to climb the three chariots and offer their prayers to deities on  Rath Yatra day,” Law Minister Arun Sahu told reporters here after meeting Puri Jagannath temple servitors at the state secretariat. 

The ban order will also remain in place on two other days — ‘Bahuda Yatra’ or the return Car Festival, when the three deities will leave for the main Puri temple after their nine-day sojourn at the Sri Gundicha temple and the day of ‘Suna Vesa’ when deities will be dressed in golden attire on their respective chariots before they re-enter the main temple.

However, apart from these three days, the devotees can climb the chariots and touch or offer prayers to the deities during the festival.