Tell about Puri Rath Yatra ?

The people of other religious sects cannot catch a glimpse of the Lord as they get access till the doorstep of the premises no matter how ardent devotees they are, except on some special days. However, the door of the Puri Jagannath Temple is open to all, irrespective of caste and religion, during the Rath Yatra Festival. The people of different Indian communities can worship the Lord and get blessed.

And honoring this invitation, Krishna and Balram left for Mathura sitting on the chariot that was sent by their uncle. It is this day of departure that the devotees celebrate as Rath Yatra.

Common Folklore has it that the deities refuse to go to their aunt’s house (Gundicha) and the chariots eerily refuse to budge even an inch with 1000s of people pulling it with brute force. But after much coaxing and requests done to the deities by their servitors does that Chariots finally start moving.

Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra – the three deities of the Jagannath Temple – travel in three different chariots. That is why Ratha Yatra is also called the Festival of Chariots.

Their chariots are named Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Devadalana respectively. Lord Jagannath’s Chariot Nandighosha runs on as many as 18 wheels, while 16 wheels drive Lord Balaram’s Chariot Taladhwaja, and Subhadra’s Chariot Padmadhwaja has 14 wheels.

This year, the very popular Jagannath Rath Yatra will be held on June.

There are a fixed number of families of traditional carpenters who build the chariots every year from the time of its inception and the methods, measurement, techniques etc

There are also stories that devotees celebrated the day when Krishna took Subhadra, his sister, to show the citys beauty and splendor on a chariot.

to build the same are handed down through generations. All the chariots construction is started and finished simultaneously.

One of the most interesting facts of Rath Yatra is that the chariots of the deities are newly constructed every year. New materials including wood are used in construction.

The festival is celebrated on the 2nd day of the Shukla Paksha, Ashadh month according to the traditional Oriya Calendar.

But the actual story begins when Krishna was cremated.

The wood used in the construction of this comes from two nearby forests Dashpalla and Ranapur. Since the amount of wood used for these chariots is a lot, double the amount of saplings are planted simultaneously.

Apart from the chariots, the flags on top of each as well as the ropes with which they are pulled each have a unique name.

The top of the chariots of Lord Jagannath and other two deities resembles the structure of a Hindu temple. The chariots are pulled with ropes by hundreds of devotees and pilgrims, which makes an inspirational spectacle of devotion and enthusiasm. Canopies for the chariots are made of almost 1200 meters of cloth. A team of 15 tailors make the canopies.

he wooden idols of the three deities, every year, are taken from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple. These idols are placed in decorative chariots, and are accompanied by chants and conches, which can be heard all around.

Lord Jagannath seems to refuse moving initially when the festivity begins, no matter how many hundreds of people push from behind and pull from the front. Lord Jagannath’s Chariot seems to stand still despite massive push and pull. The Lord agrees to go ahead and His chariot starts moving only after a few hours of cosmic effort.  It sounds offbeat. If the onlookers are believed, it is incredibly true.

It is only after that the presiding king of Puri sweeps all the chariots with a broom made out of gold and using fragrant water that the pulling of the chariots commences.

It is believed that Balram was deeply saddened by Krishnas death and hence he tried to drown himself into an ocean with Krishnas mortal body.

Before the Yatra commences, the idols are bathed with 109 buckets of water, which is Snana Pornima.

The monarchy system of India has faded into the past long back. But it is believed that the Majesty of Puri is there, and that Lord Jagannath walks out of temple for the ceremonious journey after the path is swept by the mythical king of Puri with a broom made of gold.

Dahuka are a sect of servitors to the lords apart from Suaras and Mahasuaras. These Dahukas having a unique tradition of singing something known as Dahuka Boli or Dahuka Gita.

And on the same day, in another part of India, King Indradyumna of Jagannath Puri had a vision that the body of Krishna will float up to the shores of Puri post which he should build statues of Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra.

.Now these are mostly rhyming poems which symbolise things like fertility and life cycle and have a lot of explicit words which is generally not heard near religious ceremonies and are recited very openly without holding back any of this explicit lyrics.

Lord Jagannath and His siblings take a halt on the way back to their own abode after a stay at the Gundicha Temple for 9 days. Poda Pitha, a popular dessert in Odisha, is a favorite of the Lords. They find it irresistible to have a bite of their favorite dish during the return journey.