By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 24, 2017 : The pilgrim town of Puri on coast is bracing for the annual Rath Yatra festival on Sunday.

Tens of thousands of devotees have already arrived in Puri to see the spectacle of car festival once again. Officials expect presence of at least 10 lakh people during the festival.

Three huge colourful chariots – Nandighosa (Lord Jagannath), Taladwaja (Balabhadra) and Darpadalan (Subhadra) – have been kept ready near the Lion’s Gate in front of the 12th century Jagannath Temple in Puri for a nine-day sojourn to the Gundicha Temple.

The devotees will pull the three chariots on the grand road to the Gundicha Temple, about three km from the main temple, on Sunday.

The Indian Railways will run 186 special trains during the festival, said an official in the East Coast Railway while the state government has made several transportation facilities to ferry the devotees.

Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the festival and have been positioned in designated areas.

Indian Coast guard patrolling ship ‘Shaunak’ was deployed off Odisha coast to keep close watch on terrorist activities on sea route during the Car Fesitval, sources said adding that the patrolling ship has been commissioned as part of safety initiative to foil any untoward incident.

Director General of Police (DGP) K.B. Singh said elaborate security arrangements have been made for the festival.

Four Inspector General (IG) rank police officials have been engaged with the deployment of 127 platoons of police and hundreds of other police officials to ensure smooth conduct of the festival, he added.