About

• The history of the Jagannath Temple temple in Ahmedabad goes back to more than 450 years, when a Hindu sadhu settled down in a forest area where the temple stands now and installed an idol of Lord Hanuman.
• His successor, Sarangdasji, who was a devotee of Lord Jagannath, founded the Jagannath temple in that area on the east bank of the Sabarmati river.
• The chief deities are the trinity of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother, Balabhadra (known in Gujarat as Baldev), and their sister Subadhra.
• In 1878, the Rath Yatra was introduced on the lines of Puri.

Jagannath Rath Yatra, Ahmedabad

• The Ahmedabad Rath Yatra is second largest after the one in Puri and more than one lakh people participate in the yatra which passes through the walled city area from Jagannath temple in Jamalpur.
• The yatra is conducted on the day of Ashada shukla dwitiya or Ashaadi beej, which also marks the Kutchhi new year.
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Why in News?

• The Gujarat High Court stayed the annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• With the court’s intervention, the Rath Yatra procession in Ahmedabad will not be held for the first time since 1878.