Stampede impact: Odisha govt on alert for smooth conduct of remaining Rath Yatra rituals

Puri: A day after Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi issued an apology to the devotees of Lord Jagannath for the “unpardonable” negligence leading to the death of three people in a stampede, the entire state administration was gearing up to ensure smooth conduct of the remaining rituals of Rath Yatra.

The stampede took place near Shree Gundicha Temple, where the sibling deities - Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra - are now following tradition, on Sunday during a ceremony related to the ongoing Rath Yatra festivities.

The Gundicha Temple is considered the aunt's place of the deities, where they stay for a few days during the annual festival.

The CM's advisor and former DGP Prakash Mishra rushed to Puri and held discussions with various stakeholders to ensure a smooth conduct of the remaining rituals of Rath Yatra.

Mishra was appointed as the advisor to the chief minister in January this year. Apart from serving as the DGP of Odisha, he has worked as the director general of CRPF and NDRF.

“Now, we have to see how the remaining Rath Yatra rituals are carried properly,” Mishra told reporters.

Stating that the government has engaged all the “experienced hands” after the stampede, Mishra pointed out that ADG Soumendra Priyadarshi has been in charge of overall police arrangements and he is an experienced person to handle such events.

The new Puri Collector Chanchal Rana and new SP Pinak Mishra too have good knowledge about Puri temple affairs, he said.

The first leg of the Rath Yatra - travelling of the deities from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple - was complete. Several other rituals of the festival will be conducted in the next few days.

The administration anticipates the congregation of lakhs of devotees during rituals such as 'Sandhya Darshan' (July 4), 'Bahuda Yatra' or return car festival (July 5), 'Suna Besha' (July 6) and 'Niladri Bije' (July 8).

“We see a major challenge in the smooth conduct of the return car festival on July 5 when the three chariots will be pulled back to the main temple. Another event is on July 6 when the trinity will adorn Suna Besha (golden attire) on July 6. We anticipate a bigger crowd of devotees to throng Puri to witness the Lord’s Suna Besha,” a senior police official said.

This apart, senior bureaucrat Aravind Agarwal is assigned the job of overall monitoring of the Rath Yatra affairs. He is a former collector of Puri and has good knowledge of the Rath Yatra management, Mishra said.

The chief minister’s advisor appealed to the devotees to maintain discipline as all would get the opportunity to have ‘darshan’ of the deities.

Meanwhile, Development Commissioner Anu Garg said she has been given 30 days to inquire into the stampede.

“I will soon visit Puri and take stock of the situation,” Garg told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said, “The Sunday stampede incident was due to negligence on the part of some people. The government has already taken action and others will face action after DC submit reports.” Harichandan said that the DC’s inquiry will focus mostly on three points - why the stampede took place, who are responsible and what more needs to be done to avoid such incidents in the future.

The Puri Jagannath temple functions under the Law Department of the state.

Following the stampede, the Odisha government transferred the district collector and SP of Puri and also placed two senior police officers under suspension on the charge of dereliction of duty.

While the rituals at Shree Gundicha Temple are going on smoothly on Monday, senior bureaucrat and former Puri collector Aravind Agarwal held closed-door meetings with various stakeholders including servitors of the 12th century shrine.

He also discussed with people having sufficient experience in Rath Yatra management.

Agarwal has sought the blessings of Lord Jagannath to smoothly carry out the responsibilities given to him by the state government, an official close to him said.

According to temple records, so far 17 people on five occasions died due to stampede since 2006.

While the highest number of six people were killed on July 4, 2008, during Rath Yatra, four others died on November 4, 2006, during the Kartik Purnima day.

Similarly, two persons each died during Rath Yatra on July 21, 2012 and July 18, 2015. The latest stampede in Puri took place on June 29, 2025 where three people have been killed.

However, this is the first time that a stampede occurred outside Shree Gundicha temple a day after the pulling of chariots.

The devotees on Monday had a smooth darshan of deities after the police made special barricade arrangements near Shree Gundicha Temple after the stampede incident, officials said.