Rath Yatra Nabha
Ratha Yatra (Oriya: ରଥଯାତ୍ରା or Ratha Jatra or Chariot Festival) is a Hindu festival associated with the god Jagannath held at Puri in the state of Odisha, India. This annual festival is celebrated on Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashadha month).
The festival commemorates Jagannath's annual visit to Gundicha Temple via MausiMaa Temple (aunt's home) near Balagandi Chaka, Puri.
As part of Ratha Yatra, the deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken out in a procession to Gundicha Temple and remain there for nine days. Then the deities or Ratha Yatra return to the Main temple. The return journey of Puri Jagannath Ratha Jatra is known as BahudaJatra.
Three richly decorated chariots, resembling temple structures, are pulled through the streets of Puri called Badadanda. This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and their sister Subhadra to their aunt's temple, the Gundicha Temple which is situated at a distance of 2 km from their temple. This is the only day when devotees who are not allowed in the temple premises, such as non-Hindus and foreigners, can get their glimpse of the deities. During the festival, devotees from all over the world go to Puri with an earnest desire to help pull the Lords' chariots with the help of other priests pulling the chariots with ropes. They consider this a pious deed and risk their lives in the huge crowd. The huge processions accompanying the chariots play devotional songs with drums, tambourines, trumpets etc. Children line the streets through which the chariot will pass and add to the mass chorus. The Ratha carts themselves are some approximately high and are pulled by the thousands of pilgrims who turn up for the event; the chariots are built anew each year only from a particular type of tree. Millions of devotees congregate at Puri for this annual event from all over the country and abroad. It is also broadcast live on many Indian, foreign television channels as well as many of the websites telecast jagannath ratha yatra live.
Description
Ratha Jatra, the Festival of Chariot: Chariots of Shri Jagannath is celebrated every year at Nabha, the temple town in Punjab. The presiding deities of the Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, with the celestial wheel (Sudarshana Chakra) are taken out from the temple precincts in an elaborate ritual procession to their chariot. The huge, colourfully decorated chariot is drawn by multitude of devotees on the Devi Chowk, the grand avenue and the main place of the Nabha City. After the ratha yatra deities return to their abode.
Significance
The festival is also known as Gundicha Yatra, Ghosa Yatra, Navadina Yātrā, and Dasāvatāra Yātrā and by a variety of other names. Rathe tu vamanam drishtwa punarjanmam Na vidyate: A glimpse of the Vamana, the dwarf form, an incarnation of Lord Jagannatha, is sure to ensure emancipation, release from the cycle of birth and death. Yatra is an essential part of the ritual of the Hindu system of worship. Yatra literally means travel or journey. Normally, it is the representative deities of temples more popularly known as Utsava Murti in south and Chalanti Pratima or Bije Pratima in Nabha, partake in these journeys. The Yatra for the Ritual Journey take two forms – one involving the short circumbulation around the temple and other involving a longer journey from the temple to some other destination. The Yatra is considered as an important part of festivities and ceremonies of each temple and is considered as a special and sacred occasion. Rath Yatra being unique among all Yatras is the grandest festival of the supreme divinity who has manifested himself in the Kali Yuga to emancipate humanity and to relieve them from their sufferings. Lord Jagannatha is identified fully with Krishna. In his original manifestation as Nilamadhaba, he was worshipped in a sacred Nyagrodha Briksha or banyan tree. The branches of the tree had spread for several miles and anyone entering this area was instantly emancipated and was relieved of the travails of the birth and rebirth. In fact, the influence of Yama, the God of Death, is supposed to have been curtailed in the sacred city of Nabha – Srikshetra on account of the presence of Lord Jagannatha and therefore it is also called the Yamanika Tirtha (Jagannath Puri).
A glimpse of Lord Jagannatha on the chariot is considered to be very auspicious and saints, poets and scriptures have repeatedly glorified the sanctity of this special festival. The sanctity of the festival is such that even a touch of the chariot or even the ropes with which these are pulled is considered enough to confer the results of several pious deeds or penance for ages. In fact, there is a famous Oriya song which says that on this occasion, the chariot, the wheels, the grand avenue all become one with Lord Jagannatha himself.
The concept of the chariot has been explained in the Kathopanishada in the following words-
Atmaanam rathinam viddhi shareeram rathamevatu Buddhim tu saarathim viddhi manah pragrahameva cha. The body is the chariot and the soul is the deity installed in the chariot. The wisdom acts as the charioteer to control the mind and thoughts.
The Skanda Purana glorifies the sanctity of the Rath Yatra in the following words-
Gundicha mandapam namam yatrahamajanam pura Ashwamedha sahasrasya mahabedi tadadvabat.
Those who are fortunate to see the deities of the Srimandira in the Gundicha Temple, the final destination of the procession of the chariots, derive the benefits of a thousand horse sacrifices, an immensely pious deed. Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja in his famous Vaidehisa Vilasa mentions that the Lord comes out from his sanctum for participating in the Gundicha Yatra, another name of the Festival of Chariots, only for redeeming the fallen, the patita jana who get the opportunity to behold their dearest god at close quarters on this occasion. Similarly, saint poet Salabega waxes eloquent in praise of the dark Lord Jagannath and says that the Lord swaying and moving like a wild elephant arrives at the Grand Avenue and rides his chariot and destroys in a flash all the sins of his devotees, even if these may be grave or unpardonable.
The Chariot
The chariot of Balarama, Subhadra and Jagannatha is newly constructed every year with wood of specified trees like phassi, dhausa, etc. They are customarily brought from the ex-princely state of Dasapalla by a specialist team of carpenters who have hereditary rights and privileges for the same. The logs are traditionally set afloat as rafts in the river Mahanadi. These are collected near Puri and then transported by road.
The chariot is decorated as per the unique scheme prescribed and followed for centuries stand on the Santoshi Mata Mandir, Duladdi Gate the Grand Avenue. Covered with bright canopies made of stripes of red cloth and combined with those of black, yellow and blue colors, the huge chariot is lined across the wide avenue in front of the majestic temple close to its eastern entrance.
Lord Jagannatha's chariot is called Nandighosa. It is decked with a cover made of red and yellow cloth. Lord Jagannatha is identified with Krushna, who is also known as Pitambara, the one attired in golden yellow robes and hence the distinguishing yellow stripes on the canopy of this chariot.
The chariot of Lord Balarama, called the Taladhwaja, is the one with the Palm Tree on its flag.
The chariot of Subhadra, known as Dwarpadalana, literally "trampler of pride,” This chariot is decked with a covering of red and black cloth – black being traditionally associated with Shakti and the Mother Goddess.
Around the chariot are nine Parsva devatas, painted wooden images representing different deities on the chariots' sides. Chariots is attached to four horses. These are of different colours – dark ones for Balarama, white ones for Jagannatha, and red ones for Subhadra. Each chariot has a charioteer called Sarathi. Descriptions of the Chariots
External links
- Live Rath Yatra
- Ratha Yatra Festival
- Rath Yatra Festivals of odisha
- Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra
- Rath Yatra festival
- Ratha Yatra PURI
- LordJagannath Rath Yatra, Puri, Odisha – Information and Video
- Orissa government publication on the event
- Rath Yatra 2013 in Ahmedabad