BHUBANESWAR: Sea of humans braving the rain on Monday morning pulled the chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, which had stopped midway on Sunday evening at Puri . As per tradition, chariots are not pulled after sunset.The journey of the holy trinity couldn't be completed on Sunday because of the delay in ritual like pahandi. While Subhadra's chariot was stuck near Bagala Dharmasala, Balabhadra's chariot was stopped near Balagandi and Jagannath's near the Town Police Station.Pulling of the chariots resumed at 9.30 am on Monday. Lakhs of devotees were excited and happy because they got another chance to pull the chariots. The Badadanda (grand road) at Puri reverberated with the chanting of 'Jai Jagannath' by the emotional devotees."I had some urgent work, so I couldn't come yesterday. When I knew that the chariots will be pulled on Monday, I reached Puri in the morning and took part in the festival. I feel so happy and content after pulling the ropes of the chariots," said Ramesh Sahu, a devotee from Ganjam.Lord Balabhadra's chariot, Taladhwaja, first reached Gundicha temple followed by Devi Subhadra's Debadalan. At the end, Lord Jagannath's chariot reached the destination at 12.15 pm. All three chariots were parked at Saradha Bali in front of the Gundicha temple.The deities will stay on the chariots till Tuesday. They will be taken to Adap Mandap inside the Gundicha temple, believed to be the birth place of the deities, on Tuesday afternoon. As per the ritual, the gods and goddess will be taken to the Mandap the very next day of reaching the temple. Till then, darshan of the trinity will be held at Saradha Bali.After the three chariots reached Gundicha temple, two persons tried to climb onto the chariots. SP (Puri) Sarthak Sarangi stopped them and interrogated about their whereabouts and their motive of climbing onto the Rath. They were identified as aides of a temple priest, said the police sources.Police heavily guarded the chariots to keep the devotees away from climbing the chariots. Touching deities on Raths is not allowed. The deities will return to their temple 'Sri Mandir' on July 3.

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