Jamshedpur: The annual bathing rituals of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, brother Balabhadra or Balaram and sister Subhadra were held on Thursday at the Iskcon Temple at Cable Town in Golmuri amid Covid restrictions.

A small gathering of devotees including Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato attended the bathing rituals referred to as Snana Yatra or Devasnana.

Very few devotees turned up to witness the rituals performed by the priests of the Iskcon Temple, in the wake of the pandemic.

The bathing rituals of the three deities are performed on the Purnima (full moon day) of the Hindu month of Jyeshtha, considered the auspicious birthday of Lord Jagannath ahead of Rath Yatra ( or the chariot festival ).

The three deities are ceremonially bathed and decorated for a public audience with the devotees.

The organisers later distributed prasad among the devotees.

Similar bathing rituals of Lord Jagannath and his siblings were performed at the Naga Mandir near Beldih Golf Course, which holds the city's oldest Jagannath Rath Yatra (chariot festival), Utkal Association in Sakchi and Gandhi Ashram in Baradwari.

Jamshedpur will miss the grand Rath Yatra celebration organised by Iskcon in association with several local NGOs, for the second consecutive year due to the pandemic.

This year the annual Rath Yatra falls on July 12.

Members of Iskcon Temple said only the Rath Yatra rituals would be performed in a low profile manner because of the pandemic.

"No Rath Yatra procession would be taken out wherein devotees pull the chariot during the festival. We will perform the necessary rituals in a symbolic manner," said an official.

The tradition of the grand Rath Yatra wherein the three presiding deities -lord Jagannath and his siblings - brother Balaram and sister Subhadra — are placed on the chariot and taken to their Mausi Bari from Bistupur to Sakchi covering a distance of about 5 Kms every year was broken last year when the local administration did not allow the festivities due to the Covid-induced pandemic

The celebration ends nine days later with Bahuda Yatra or the return journey of the trio to their temple.

(Pinaki Majumdar)

Peacock rescued by police team

The rescued peacock with the police team in Bokaro. The Telegraph picture

Bokaro: A Bokaro police team rescued a peacock from the busiest Dundibagh vegetable market on Thursday.

Acting on information, police rescued the peacock lying injured in the vegetable market. Peacock sustained injury on its leg following which it was lying and surrounded by people. Police later handed it to the forest department.

The reason for the peacock’s presence at the vegetable market, situated in the heart of the town, is yet to be ascertained, said in-charge of City police station Santosh Kumar.

Sources said that the Dundibagh vegetable market also houses bird sellers and it might be possible that someone may be intending to sell the peacock. The bird may have been deserted because a buyer did not buy it or refused to purchase it.

(Our correspondent)