Puri Rath Yatra concludes peacefully; Odisha govt rules out stampede in devotees’ deaths

Representation pic

The 2026 Rath Yatra in Puri concluded smoothly despite continuous rain and adverse weather conditions, adding that two devotees who died during the festival did not succumb due to any stampede or crowd management-related incident.

According to the CMO release, around 8 to 9 lakh devotees from Odisha, across the country and abroad participated in the world-famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Chakra Raj Sudarshan.

All rituals associated with the festival, including the pulling of the chariots, were completed as per schedule. Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peeth also visited the chariots and offered prayers to the deities.

The state government said elaborate arrangements had been made in advance involving the Police, Health, Fire Services, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Transport, Municipal Administration, Public Health, Energy and other departments.

The release added that round-the-clock monitoring, deployment of security personnel, CCTV surveillance, public announcement systems, traffic management, sanitation, drinking water facilities and emergency medical services were put in place for devotees. Providing a clarification on the reported deaths, the release said seven devotees who fell ill during the festival were immediately shifted to the hospital for treatment.

It said one elderly male devotee, aged over 60 years, died and that the exact cause of his death was yet to be determined. In a separate incident, another devotee died due to cardiac arrest. The CMO further said several other devotees who experienced health issues due to the continuous rain were treated at hospitals and later discharged.

According to the CMO, the Gundicha Yatra remained peaceful, and there were no stampedes or major crowd management issues during the event. It said the festival concluded successfully through the coordinated efforts of the administration, security agencies, sebayats and volunteers.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed gratitude to the sebayats and thanked devotees for their patience, discipline and cooperation. He also said the state government had fulfilled its commitment to providing infrastructure, public services and continuous administrative support to ensure the safety and convenience of devotees during the Rath Yatra.

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