The three-century-old Rath Mela of Jagannathpur in Ranchi, which has not been held for the past two years because of the pandemic, will resume on Friday, the day of Rathyatra, this year.

“We are thankful to the state government for allowing the mela to be organised this year,” said Thakur Sudhangshu Nath Shahdeo, a trustee of the Jagannathpur temple committee.

The Ranchi district administration also held meetings to take necessary steps for smooth running of the nine-day fair that is expected to be attended by a large number of devotees, more so as it resumes after a gap of two years, he added.

“Sufficient number of security personnel, including policewomen, would be deployed at the fair that will also be monitored by drone cameras,” Ranchi's city superintendent of police Naushad Alam informed the media after one such meeting, adding magistrates would also be deputed at strategic locations.

There was an uncertainty if the fair would be held even this year but the government, in an order issued on June 20, allowed it to be organised.

The Rathyatra started in Ranchi in 1691 when the then local ruler Thakur Aini Nath Shahdeo completed building the Jagannath temple at what is now known as Jagannathpur within the city limits. A fair had also been held every year since then.

The legend has it that the ruler wanted to visit Puri (in Odisha) during Rathyatra but became very sad when he couldn’t make it for some reasons. Lord Jagannath then asked him, in a dream, to build a temple and worship him there. Accordingly, the ruler built the temple.

Since tribals then largely inhabited the area, they also participated in Rath Yatra and the fair wholeheartedly and continue to do so even now.

No one knows for sure if the fair was ever discontinued since its beginning, barring the past two years when the administration allowed the Rathyatra rituals within the temple complex in the presence of a few priests and committee members only but did not permit the fair because of prevailing Covid-19 situation.

The temple got a fresh coat of paint this year and a new, bigger chariot that was built under supervision of some experts from Puri has also replaced the old wooden one.

Though there were only 10 days left for Rathyatra, the news of the government allowing the fair spread fast and those interested in putting up stalls with their varied merchandise and entertainment items such as rides started reaching Ranchi.

“We are solely dependent on such fairs and have faced acute financial crises during the past two years. So, we lost no time to grab the chance,” said Farid Bux, who reached Jamshedpur with his team and put up a few rides at the fair site.

“We were also in the same plight and came here to put up a stall for selling kitchen items made of iron that have great demand here,” said Meghnath Rout who came from Deoghar.