Artist makes miniature chariots for deities on Rath Yatra

Berhampur (Odisha): An artist in this Silk City in south Odisha made miniature chariots for Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra by using waste materials on the occasion of Ratha Yatra.

While the height and width of Nandighosh, the chariot of Jagannath, are 13.5 and 9 inch respectively, those of Taladhwaja (chariot of Balabhadra) and Darpadalan (chariot of Subhadra) are 13x7 inch and 12.5x6 inch respectively.

The miniature chariots were created for display at the Ratha Yatra in Goshaninuagaon yesterday, said artist Satya Narayan Moharana.

Prior to the Rath Yatra, he displayed the chariots at his Bapuji Ashram Road workshop. Last year, Moharana had made a miniature chariot of Lord Jagannath and displayed it at Goshaninuagaon Ratha Yatra.

"I decided to make three miniature chariots this time to draw more devotees," he said.

"I have tried to replicate the chariots at Puri," said the 30-year-old. The chariots have Parsva Devata (side deities) and Sarathi (driver) like those in Puri, he said.

While the wheels are made of cane, the parsa devata and sarathi are made using chalk and soap respectively. The chariots will be on display every evening till Bahuda Yatra (return car festival), he said.

"Since I used waste materials, I spent very nominal amount to make the chariots," he said. He took 10 days to complete the work.

Earlier, Moharana had carved miniature images of great personalities from chalk, including Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, former president Pratibha Patil, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.

These are on display in his archives at home.