Puri: Ahead of the annual Rath Yatra festival of the Holy Trinity-Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra in July, preparation for the mega event began on Monday with the arrival of first phase timber wood required for the construction of the three chariots of the sibling deities.
Around 57 logs of wood of specified species of trees from Nayagarh forest division reached the holy town on Monday evening.
As per sources, 4 logs of 20-feet length Dhaura wood, 11 logs of 20-feet Asan wood and 20 logs of 12-feet length Asan wood along with 22 logs of 12-feet Dhaura wood were delivered.
As per the rituals, 865 logs are used for construction of the three chariots but with 195 logs already in the stock, this year, 670 logs of wood will be delivered for chariot construction in different phases.
While some logs of wood have been sent to Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) sawmill in Khapuria of Cuttack where they will be sliced on the day of Ram Navami, the rest will be cut and prepared at the Ratha Khala in Puri.
After all the logs are assembled, the chariot construction work will begin on Akshaya Tritiya, the third day of the bright half of the lunar Vaisakh month in the Hindu calendar.