Puri: The construction of three chariots for the famous Puri car festival has been in progress as per the fixed schedule and is expected to be completed a day before the grand event on July 7.
Hundreds of workers from various disciplines are working on a specified schedule every day at the construction site.
The construction of the three chariots began on the auspicious Akshyaya Tritiya day and is scheduled for completion within forty-four days.
The construction work was initiated after the temple priests handed over Ajnamallyas (order of the lords) from the lord Jagannath to the Biswakarmas (three chief carpenters of three rathas) in a formal ceremony.
The Biswakrmas were presented with turbans (head gears) a symbolical for entrustment of responsibility.
Dozens of carpenters and their assistants work under the direction of chief carpenters assigned to three chariots.
These chariots are being constructed in the Ratha Khala (construction yard) located in front of the royal palace along the Grand road ,popularly called “Badadanda”.
Carpenters come from far flung remote village areas for the service of the lord and get wages from the temple.
They construct Nandighosh chariot(13.9 meters height) of Lord Jagannath with sixteen giant wheels, Taladhwaj (13.5 meters height) of Balabhadra with fourteen wheels and Darpadalan rath (12.9 meters height) of Devi Subhadra with twelve number of wheels using total 872 pieces of timber of various tree species like Asan, Dhaura, and Phasi is being carried out as per the fixed design, said Bijay Kumar Mohapatra Biswakarma of Nandighosh chariot of lord Jagannath.
Specific types of tree species and sizes of timber logs are used to prepare the axle, wheel, and spokes besides the other parts of the rath.
All three chariots are fitted with unique shock absorber systems with manually operated front brakes.
Carpenters work for nearly 10 hours every day under the supervision of Biswakarmas in the Ratha Khala.
“Sometimes we had to double up the work in the event of work being hampered due to natural calamities like rain and cyclones to meet the deadline “Bijay Mahapatra. said.
Apart from these carpenters a number of roopakaras (sculptors and painter) display their skill by engraving and colouring the images of Parswadevatas (guarding deities) on all three sides of the chariots.
While the sculptors engraved images on detachable wood frames the roopkaras paint them with traditional bright and lively colours.
Several blacksmiths meticulously work to strengthen joints and weak portions particularly the wheels by reinforcing them with iron clamps and hooks.
A set of traditional tailors (Durjees) work for a week to prepare the cloth covering of the three chariots according to their prescribed colour compositions.
Soon after the construction of the chariots, they were pulled to the festival site at midnight and parked in front of the temple’s main gate facing east towards Gundicha temple.
On the festival day morning temple Purohit consecrates them before the deities board the the chariots to start their nine day sojourn to the Gundicha temple,three kns away from the main temple
