Hindu devotees embark on special journey to retrace ancient road to Puri
March 7th, 2011 - 12:52 pm ICT by ANIKolkata, Mar.7 (ANI): Hundreds of Hindu devotees embarked on a spiritual journey on foot from Kolkata to Puri to retrace an ancient road that led to the sacred Jagannath temple.
The temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath (Vishnu) is located in Puri and is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindus, especially worshippers of Krishna and Vishnu.
The journey termed as ‘Sri Sri Jagannath Sadak Sagada Yatra’ will cover a distance of 484 kilometers between the two cities.
The ‘Jagannath Sadak’, also called Orissa Trunk Road, was established in 1790 and was once the lifeline for the pilgrims.
Anil Dhir, a Hindu devotee said: “It is an initiative to revive the lost glory of a very old road which used to connect Kolkata with Puri. This road was the lifeline for all the pilgrims who would visit the holy abode at Jagannath around the year and especially for the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and was established way back in 1790.”
“The road has a very rich history, but with the advent of the Railways in 1898, when the first train left from Howrah to Puri, the journey was shortened by 18 hours because by road it took nearly three weeks in a bullock cart and some people even walked,” he added.
” After the advent of the Railways, in another five to ten years the road vanished and over the years it was encroached upon by Railways, highways and by the villagers, but in spite of that the tracks of the road are still left,” said Dhir. (ANI)
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Tags: bullock cart, devotee, first train, hindu devotees, hindus, holy abode, howrah, jagannath temple, lord jagannath, pilgrimage destination, rath yatra, rich history, sadak, sagada, spiritual journey, sri jagannath, sri sri, trunk road, vishnu, worshippers