Amid 'Jai Jagannath' chants, sounds of gongs, conches and cymbals reverberated through the air at Lion's Gate of the Puri temple as Lord Sudarshan was first escorted to Darpadalan, the chariot of Devi Subhadra, as 'Pahandi' began around 11.15 am

Following Lord Sudarshan, Lord Balabhadra was taken to his Taladhwaja chariot. Goddess Subhadra, the sister of Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra, was brought to her Darpadalan chariot in a special procession by servitors

Finally, Lord Jagannath was taken to the Nandighosa chariot in a ceremonial procession amid the sounds of gongs

The 'Pahandi' ritual, in which the deities are brought from the temple to the chariots, was completed around 2.15 pm

Descending from the 'Ratna Sinhasana', the bejewelled throne, the three deities were taken out of the temple down the 22 steps known as 'Baisi Pahacha' through the Lion's Gate

Several rituals like 'Mangla Arati' and 'Mailam' were held before the presiding deities set out from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple

The three majestic chariots with the deities inside now stand tall in front of the Singha Dwar of the temple facing east towards the Gundicha temple

After completion of the Pahandi ritual, Puri Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati will pay obeisance to the holy trinity on their chariots. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and several state ministers paid a visit to the Shankaracharya

"On the occasion of Lord Jagannath's Rath Yatra, I have come here as have lakhs of other devotees. I got the opportunity to meet Puri Shankaracharya. I am delighted to get guidance from the Puri seer along with blessings of Lord Jagannath," Pradhan told reporters