<br/>In Uttar Pradesh, the three-day Rath Yatra festival began in Varanasi city on Tuesday. The chariot carrying the idols of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and elder brother Balaram were taken out after special Puja and Aarti. Thousands of people thronged to take precedence over others in pulling the chariot amid strict security arrangements. Traffic has been diverted to facilitate the Yatra.<br/>Earlier, the devotees thronged Jagannath temple in Assi locality to have darshan of the idols before they were placed in decorated palanquins, the procession started with much fanfare from the temple. The idols were taken in procession to Rathyatra locality where they were placed in colourfully decorated chariot.<br/>The festival ends on Thursday.