Mamata Banerjee prays for victims of Bahanaga Bazar rail disaster at Rath Yatra festival

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee prayed for the victims of the Bahanaga Bazar rail disaster which claimed 292 lives, while inaugurating the annual Rath Yatra festival by ISKCON here on Tuesday. Banerjee also prayed for peace and prosperity in the world as well as in the state.

The festival was celebrated with traditional fervour and enthusiasm across West Bengal.

The chariots of Lord Jagannath and his divine siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were taken out by religious organisations, clubs and households, specially children amidst the beating of cymbals and drums by the devotees.

Banerjee said if the under construction Jagannath Temple at Digha in Purba Medinipur district is completed before the festival next year, a Rath Yatra procession on the scale of the one at Puri will be organised by the civic body of the sea resort town.

"I pray to Lord Jagannath for peace and prosperity of the people of the world, the country, of West Bengal. May the Lord bless everyone with prosperity and happiness," she said inaugurating the festival at the ISKCON's Radha Krishna Temple in the city.

Lauding the social activities undertaken by International Society of Krishna Consciousness in the country and abroad, Banerjee said serving people is only next to serving God. ISKCON was given 700 acres by the state government to make its Mayapur headquarters an international city.

Mayapur in Nadia district is visited by lakhs of tourists throughout the year.

Kolkata ISKCON spokesperson Radharaman Das told PTI that the theme of Rath Yatra by it here is mental peace.

"With the number of individuals affected by mental illness growing worldwide, ISKCON devotees will enlighten participants at the Rath Yatra fair at Brigade Parade Ground in the city on how to achieve mental peace during stress," he explained.

The deaths in the triple train collision, one of the worst in the country that took place on June 3, was also condoled by ISKCON.

The chariots of the three deities were taken from the ISKCON Temple to Brigade Parade ground, about three km away, where a fair is being held on the occasion.

The chariots will be taken back to the ISKCON temple after a week on June 28. Meanwhile, thousands congregated at Mahesh in Hooghly district where the centuries old chariots of Lord Jagannath and his siblings were taken out on the G T Road.

At Rathtala in Belgharia area in the northern outskirts of the city, three traditional wooden chariots made by craftsmen from Odisha, were pulled by thousands of devotees on the arterial B T Road.