Ahmedabad: BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday offered morning prayers at the Lord Jagannath Temple in Gujarat; this came before the commencement of the 141st Rath Yatra; which began post morning prayers. In the morning, he participated in the "mangla aarti" at the Jagannath Temple.

The temple doors in Puri opened at 8am. The Rath yatra will go on for the whole day and is likely to attract around 15 lakh devotees.



Special arrangements have been made on the 15km long route of the Rath Yatra, where special helium balloons were placed and high definition cameras were installed for security purposes.

To ensure security arrangements are in place, over 14 thousand jawans, and 22 companies of State reserve police, 25 companies of para-military forces were put in place.




Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his wishes to the entire nation on the auspicious occasion. “Greetings on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, may our country scale new heights of growth. May every Indian be happy and prosperous. Jai Jagannath!” PM said.

Lord Krishna, who is an avtaar of Vishnu is known as ‘Jagannath’. There is a tradition of brooming ahead of rath yatra, which is known as Pahind Vidhi. As per a tradition, the state head, which is the Chief Minister always welcomes lord Jagannath.