Work for construction of the three chariots of Lord Jagannath and his siblings began in Puri on Saturday coinciding with Akshay Tritiya.

However, the Rath Yatra scheduled to be held on July 12, will be organised without devotees for the second consecutive year in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It has almost been finalised not to hold the Rath Yatra in a big way. We had enough lessons from the recently organised Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. We have seen people dying helplessly and their bodies are floating in the Ganga.

“Last year we had managed to stop the explosion of corona(virus) cases by not allowing devotees to participate in the Rath Yatra. This year the same practice will be followed. We had even informed the Supreme Court last year how the Rath Yatra was organised without the participation of devotees,” said a senior state government official.

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to all the servitors who are going to be involved in the Rath Yatra. All the servitors above the age of 18 will be administered vaccine.

“Those who are willing to participate in the Rath Yatra and all the rituals relating to it, will be kept in isolation. A list of the servitors will be prepared. An official announcement to this effect would be made soon,” an SJTA official said.

So far 2,294 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in the state and six lakh people have been affected by the pandemic and millions have lost their livelihood.

After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Odisha had decided not to hold the Rath Yatra.

Later the Supreme Court issued an order not to hold the festival as the congregation of people in Puri would aggravate the crisis and help spread Covid-19.

Following pressure from devotees across the globe, the state government had appealed to the apex court to reconsider its decision of prohibiting the Rath Yatra and pleaded that it would organise the festival without devotees. Later the Supreme Court gave its nod for the Rath Yatra with a set of guidelines demanding a compliance report from the state on the issue. The Rath Yatra was then organised with the support of only the servitors of the Shree Jagannath temple.

This time, around 200 carpenters will be involved in the construction of the three chariots — Nandighosh (of Lord Jagannath), Darpadalan (of Goddess Subhadra) and Taladwaja (of Lord Balabhadra). The place where the chariots are being constructed in front of the temple has been barricaded and no devotees are allowed there.

“On a priority basis, we will vaccinate all those involved in the construction work. At this difficult time they are doing their job. We will give them almost double the normal wages. We need to ensure all the rituals of the Lord go smoothly,” SJTA chief administrator Krishan Kumar told reporters on Saturday.