Odisha is on the roll for the “Holy Rathyatra”…

Even as the Indian state of Odisha is recovering up from the disastrous cyclone Fani, the state is expecting up to 33 percent growth in devotee footfalls in the annual Holy Jagannath Rathyatra in the holy city of Puri.

Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Odisha Tourism Minister, said: “I take great pride in announcing that Odisha will be celebrating the colourful and incredible Jagannath Rathyatra from July 4 to July 12, just 2 months after the cyclone Fani ravaged the city of Puri”. The Fani cyclone had ravaged the infrastructure including electricity, water supply, telecommunication and hotels have been restored, he added.

Vishal Kumar Dev, Tourism, Sports and Youth Services Commissioner cum Secretary, said: “As we are still going through restoration process, we expected the Chariot festival to be low key. However, we are fully prepared now and are expecting 1.5-2 million devotees to participate in the festival”. The government of Odisha had launched a massive restoration work in all the cyclone affected areas of the state, providing easy loans and subsidies to small to mid-sized hotels, he added.

Indian state of Odisha suffered a tentative loss of Rs. 12,000 crore due to Fani cyclone that damaged more than 5 lakh dwelling units in the coastal districts of the state.

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