Puri, July 24 -- Thousands of devotees thronged the holy town of Puri on Friday as the Bahuda Rath Yatra, also known as the 'Return Car Festival', got underway with the deities returning from the Gundicha Temple to the Jagannath Temple.

With a massive turnout of pilgrims for the annual festival, several devotees who complained of illness were taken to medical facilities for treatment. To ensure uninterrupted emergency response during the procession, the Odisha government set up dedicated ambulance corridors, while temporary medical teams were deployed at multiple locations along the route.

Among the devotees was a Europe-born follower of Lord Jagannath, who now resides in Odisha's Balasore district at the Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission A...