Puri Rath Yatra chariot wheels to be installed in Parliament premises

Bhubaneswar: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has agreed to the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) proposal of installing three wheels of the chariots of Puri Rath Yatra in the Parliament premises, a senior official said Saturday.

In a statement, SJTA said: "During Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's visit to Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, a proposal was given by the administration for installing three wheels of chariots of Rath Yatra in the Parliament premises. Birla has accepted the proposal."

SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Padhee, in a post on X on Friday, said: "Hon'ble Lok Sabha Speaker, accompanied by other dignitaries, visited Shree Jagannatha Temple today, seeking Mahaprabhu's blessings. We are deeply grateful to the Hon'ble Speaker for graciously agreeing to our proposal to install one wheel each from the three sacred chariots of Ratha Jatra at a prominent location within the Parliament premises."

Birla, accompanied by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Puri MP Sambit Patra, were welcomed by SJTA chief administrator at the Lion's Gate on Friday.

Padhee said that the wheels of Nandighosh (Lord Jagannath), Darpadalan (Devi Subhadra) and Lord Balabhadra (Taladwaja) chariots will go to Delhi and be installed as a lasting emblem of Odisha's timeless culture and spiritual heritage.

After the annual Rath Yatra, the three chariots of the deities are dismantled every year. New wood is used in the construction of chariots every year, except for some prominent parts, according to Nandighosh chariot chief carpenter Bijay Mohapatra.

The dismantled chariot parts are kept in godown, and some of them, including wheels, get auctioned.