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JAGANNATHA RATH YATRA: The Festival of the Chariot Journey Jagannatha Rath Yatra or the 'chariot journey of Lord Jagannatha', observed on the second day of the bright fortnight of the month of Ashadha (June/July), is a festival that celebrates the annualvisit of the god to his place of birth. The famous Jagannatha Temple at Puri, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa is the venue for all celebrations. Tens of thousand people converge at Puri every year to witness this event. On the morning of the second day of Ashadha, images of the presiding deities of the temple, Jagannatha, his brother Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra, are taken in a chariot to Gundicha Ghar. This is believed to be the birthplace of Jagannatha. On the way, they stop to meet their aunt, who feeds them with padoapitha, or specially baked rice cakes.  After a short break, they continue their journey to Gundicha Ghar. They stay there for a week and then return to the temple. On the journey there and back, they are accompanied by a huge procession of people, singing and celebrating. As with royal processions in days gone by, the people rejoice at having a special persona in their midst. The festival has been mentioned in the Puranas, thus showing its antiquity. According to a legend about its origin, Jagannatha is said to have expressed his desire to visit his birthplace of Gundicha Ghar once every year for a week. Accordingly, the deities are taken to the Gundicha Mandir every year. According to another legend, Subhadra wanted to visit Dwarika, her parent's home, and her brothers Jagannatha and Balabhadra took her there on this day. The Ratha Yatra is said to be a commemoration of that visit. According to a legend in the Bhagavad Purana, Kansa sent his messenger to Gokul to ask Krishna to visit Mathura and participate in the great wrestling competition. It is believed that it was on this day that Krishna and Balarama went to Mathura to participate in the competition. Each deity has its own massive chariot, which are replicas of the temple. They are made of neem (Azidirachta indica) wood. Jagannatha's chariot, called Nandighosha, is yellow in color, 45 ft high, 35 ft square, and has 16 wheels; each one has a seven-foot diameter. About 4,200 devotees draw the chariot. Balabhadra's chariot is called Taladhvaja, is blue in color and has 14 wheels. Subhadra's chariot is the smallest, with 12 wheels and is called Deviratha. On the day of the journey, people get up early in the morning, bathe, and offer prayers to Jagannatha. The three chariots are kept ready, lined in front of the Puri temple. With great pomp and ceremony, the deities are brought to their respective chariots. Devotees then climb onto the chariots to offer prayers and take the blessings of the deities. Descendants of the King of Puri, heralded by gaily-caparisoned elephants then sweep the chariot platforms with a gold-handled broom and sprinkle scented water to demonstrate that in the eyes of god, kings are no different from the lowliest of men. Then comes the most important moment. The teeming pilgrims line up holding the ropes and pull the chariot with all their might. Everyone's sole aim is to have the supreme privilege of pulling the chariots’ ropes. This is believed to absolve them of all their sins. When the chariots reach the summerhouse, prayers are offered. The idols of Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra are installed in their respective places. With this, the festivities come to a close. The return journey takes place a week later, known as Phera Rath Yatra.
Every year, the great chariots are broken down and its wood is sold as relics. A replica is made on exactly the same pattern the next year. The images of the deities are preserved. Only in a year in which two Ashadha months occurs one after the other, the images are changed. This usually happens once in 12 or 24 years. The ceremony, called Naba Kalebar, consists of burying the old images inside the temple and creating new images from the wood of the lime (Citrus acida) tree. This practice of replacing the idols stems from the belief that in such a year, everything in the universe changes shape and form, and therefore Jagannatha receives the same treatment. The year 1996 was the most recent year of Naba Kalebar, and the one before that was 1974. The entire Jagannatha Rath Yatra is a symbolic humanization of god. All the rituals associated with this festival demonstrate an attempt to bring the god down from his pedestal of glory to a more human level. In the evening, children are seen on the streets carrying miniature versions of the chariots with tiny idols installed on them. Apart from Orissa, this festival is also celebrated in West Bengal. There, the Krishna temples take out Ratha Yatras, where the idol of the god is taken out on a short symbolic journey in specially decorated Rathas. Children have their own version of the Ratha Yatra. Local markets sell small wooden models of the Ratha. Children decorate the miniature Rathas with flowers and other decorations. On the evening of the Ratha Yatra day, they take the miniature idols on a journey around the block accompanied my sounds of bhopu bashi, a paper blow horn. |
