(Image source from: Younews.in)

Odisha’s temple town of Puri began famed Rath Yatra on Thursday despite an extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani left the state in shambles just a couple of months ago.

Over two lakh people are expected to attend the first day of the annual celebrations.

The three chariots of Lord Jagannath and his two siblings - elder brother Balabhadra and younger sister Subhadra will be pulled by thousands of devotees over the next nine days.

As per tradition, the annual rath yatra depicts the trio going to their aunt’s house - Gundicha temple.

“I take great pride in announcing that Odisha will be celebrating the Jagannath Rath Yatra during July 4-12, just two months after the cyclone-ravaged the city of Puri,” state tourism minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi told PTI, adding the state has already restored the key infrastructure like electricity and water supply, telecommunication and hotels which were destroyed by in the calamity.

                       (Image source from: Indiatimes.com)

Cyclone Fani Devastated the State

Cyclone Fani made landfall on May 3, leaving a trail of destruction behind in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Odisha was the worst hit where according to the Union Home Ministry 64 people lost their lives, 556,000 houses and huts were damaged, 6,281 cattle were lost, 148,663 hectares of cropland affected and 6,416 boats and 8,828 nets were damaged.

By Sowmya Sangam