Dear Comrades,
On the holy occasion of Ratha Yatra,
AIPEU KORAPUT DIVISIONAL BRANCH
WISHES YOU ALL
a happy auspicious Ratha Yatra. May the almighty Lord Shree Jagannath bless you all.
Ratha Yatra
(Oriya:
ରଥଯାତ୍ରା) or the Car Festival is a huge Hindu festival associated with Lord
Jagannath held at Puri in the state of Orissa, India.
This
annual festival is celebrated on Ashad Shukla Dwitiya (second day in bright
fortnight of Ashad month). In 2012 it falls on the 21st of June.
The
festival commemorates Lord Jagannath's annual visit to Gundicha mata's temple
via aunt's home (Mausi Maa Temple which is near Balagandi Chaka in Puri).
As
part of Rath Yatra, the idols of Lord Puri Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and
Subhadra are taken out in a procession to Gundicha Temple and remain there for
nine days. Then the idols or Rath Yatra returns to Puri Jagannath temple. The
return journey of Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is known as Bahuda Yatra.
The Festival
Three
richly decorated chariots, resembling temple structures, are
pulled through the streets of Puri. This commemorates the annual journey of
Lord Jagannath, Lord Balarama, 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 Lords'
chariot 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 Rath carts themselves are some
approximately 45 feet (14 m) 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 and foreign television channels.
Description
The Bada
Danda or the Grand Avenue
Ratha
yatra, the Festival of Chariot : Chariots of Shri Jagannath is celebrated
every year at Puri, the temple town in Orissa, on the second (dwitiya) day of
shukla pakshya (waxing cycle of moon) of Ashadh Maas (3rd month in Lunar
Calendar). The presiding deities of the Jagannath Temple, Puri main temple,
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 respective chariots. The huge, colourfully decorated chariots are drawn
by multitude of devotees on the bada danda,
the grand avenue to the Gundicha Temple(Gundicha - King Indradyumna's
Queen), two miles away to the North.
On
their way back from the Gundicha Temple, the three deities stop for a
while near the Mausi Maa Temple (Aunt's
abode) and have an offering of the Poda Pitha, which is a special type of
pancake supposed to be the Lord's favourite. After a stay for seven days, the
deities return to their abode.
Holiness and Its
Significance
Rath/Chariots are under construction for
the Rath jatra in Puri
The
festival is also known as Gundicha Jatra, Ghosa Jatra, Navadina Jatra,
Dasavatara Jatra 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. Jatra is an essential part of the ritual of the Hindu system
of worship. Jatra 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 Orissa, partake in these journeys. The Jatra 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 Jatra is considered as an important part of festivities and
ceremonies of each temple and is considered as a special and sacred occasion.
Rath Jatra being unique among all Jatras 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 any one entering this area was
instantly emancipated and was relieved of the travails of the birth and
re-birth. In fact, the influence of Yama, the God of Death, is supposed to have
been curtailed in the sacred city of Puri – Srikshetra on account of the
presence of Lord Jagannatha and therefore it is also called the Yamanika
Tirtha.
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 Jatra in the following words-
Gundicha
mandapam namam jatrahamajanam 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 Jatra,
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 Chariots
The
three chariots of Balarama, Subhadra and Jagannatha are 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
three chariots are decorated as per the unique scheme prescribed and followed
for centuries stand on the Bada Danda, the Grand Avenue. Covered with bright
canopies made of stripes of red cloth and combined with those of black, yellow
and blue colours, the huge chariots are lined across the wide avenue in front
of the majestic temple close to its eastern entrance, which is also known as
the Sinhadwara or the Lion’s Gate.
Lord
Jagannatha’s Chariot is called Nandighosa. It is forty-five feet high and
forty-five feet square at the wheel level. It has sixteen wheels, each of
seven-foot diameter, and 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.
Nandighosa
Rath
The
Chariot of Lord Balarama, called the Taladhwaja, is the one with the Palm Tree
on its flag. It has fourteen wheels, each of seven-foot diameter and is covered
with red and blue cloth. Its height is forty-four feet.
Taladhwaja
Rath
The
Chariot of Subhadra, known as Dwarpadalana, literally "trampler of
pride," is forty-three feet high with twelve wheels, each of seven-foot
diameter. This Chariot is decked with a covering of red and black cloth - black
being traditionally associated with Shakti and the Mother Goddess.
Dwarpadalana
or Padmadhwaja Rath
Around
each of the chariots are nine Parsva devatas, painted wooden images representing
different deities on the chariots’ sides. Each of the chariots is attached to
four horses. These are of different colours – white ones for Balarama, dark
ones for Jagannatha, and red ones for Subhadra. Each chariot has a charioteer
called Sarathi. The three charioteers attached to the chariots of Jagannatha,
Balarama and Subhadra respectively are Daruka , Matali and Arjuna.
Chandan Jatra, the Sandalwood Paste Festival
The construction of the chariots starts
on Akshaya Trutiya, the third day of the bright fortnight of Vaisakha, with
ritual fire worship. This takes place in front of the palace of the King of
Puri and opposite the main office of the Puri temple. On this day, the new
agricultural season starts and farmers start ploughing their fields. This day
also marks the beginning of the summer festival of the deities, also known as
the sandalwood festival orChandan Yatra, which
lasts for three weeks. In this festival, the representative images of the
presiding deities are taken out in colourful processions and given a ceremonial
boat ride in the Narendra tank everyday. In an interesting demonstration of the
assimilative character of the Jagannatha cult, Madanmohana and Rama Krushna,
representing Jagannatha & Balarama partake in the festival with the
representatives' images of the presiding deities of five main Shiva temples of
Puri. These are curiously known as Pancha Pandava, the five brothers of the
Mahabharata story. Later the deities have a ritual bath in a small temple in
the middle of the tank, in stone tubs filled with water, sandalwood paste,
scents and flowers.
This
sandalwood festival culminates in the Snana Yatra, the Bathing Festival on the full moon
day of the month of Jestha. On this day, the presiding deities descend from
their seats on an elevated platform in the sanctum sanctorum, the bejewelled
throne. They are bathed in 108 pots of water brought from the suna kua, the
golden well and assume the elephant form on the special bathing platform, close
to the Eastern boundary wall of the temple. From that day the deities remain in
symbolic and ritual convalescence for about two weeks. They are barred from
view of the ordinary devotees. Only three special patta chitras, traditional
Oriya paintings of natural colours on cloth stiffened with starch, known as
Anasara Pattis, are strung on a bamboo screen hiding the deities from public
view, can be seen by the public. During this period, the deities are given only
roots, leaves, berries and fruits to cure them from their indisposition. This
ritual is a reminder of the strong tribal elements in the genesis and evolution
of the Jagannatha cult. The progeny of Lalita, daughter of the original tribal
worshipper Biswabasu, chieftain of hunters, and the Brahmin priest Vidyapati,
are known as daitapatis or daitas. They have almost exclusive privilege of
serving the Lord during the convalescence and through the entire period of
Ratha Jatra or the Festival of Chariots.
Wikipedia
