Jaggannath Puri Rath Yatra – An experience of a lifetime.

It is not every day that you get to experience the grand, larger than life Chariot festival, commonly known as Jaggannath Puri Rath Yatra, a complete package of social, religious and cultural ethos. The event of Rath Yatra is so old that it has been documented in undated Hindu sacred texts - the Puranas. Ayandrali Dutta recalls her experience at the yatra.

Origin of the festival

History has it that origin of Rath yatra has two versions. The first where Indrayumna, King of Puri, trying to steal the heart of Krishna while the other being when grief stricken Krishna’s siblings Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, walked into the sea at Dwarka carrying his half-cremated body and King Indrayumna had a dream that Krishna’s body been floated to his shores and that he should build statues of them. And so, King Indrayumna decides to build a temple for Krishna. Learning about this, lord Vishwakarma shows up at his door as a carpenter. He agrees to build the statue but on the condition that no one should interrupt his work.
The king unable to hold his curiosity opens the door. As warned Vishwakarma vanished leaving behind half-finished idols. The chariot procession marks the Lords annual visit Gundicha Mandir where they stay for eight days and on the way back meet their Mausi maa (maternal aunt’s) before reaching home. In Every 12 years new idols are constructed with new wood that believed to be coming from a particular tree.

A personal journey

It was July of 2019 when I decided visit Puri and see this grand celebration live and convinced my mother to join me. The Rath yatra dates that year were 4th July & I had reached couple of days earlier. This small coastal town was expecting almost around 10 lakh people and I had no idea that we have to book a seat to witness the spectale. On enquiry I found that each seat was priced at Rs 5000 for just a chair that one gets on first come first serve basis. Thankfully I knew some officials and I got tickets at a little discounted price. The hotel guys is already warned us that we should reach there by early morning to avoid the crowd.

All set for the d-day we reached the Badadanda, I was awed by the sea of people that we had to brave and reach to our seat. Nudging our way me and mom managed to settle down. All three Chariots the—Nandighosha, belonging to lord Jagannath Taladhwaja, belonging to Balabhadra, Darpadalana of Subhadra—were ready for the finale. The yatra begins with the king of Puri sweeping the road with a golden broom, expressing his lowliness to the Shankaracharya. The three massive 18-wheeled chariots bearing the Lord and his siblings that are built from scratch for weeks slowly start moving. The yatra starts with the pulling of Balabhadra’s chariot; it is followed by Subhadra’s and at the end comes the rath of Lord Jagannath. To cover a distance of almost 3km it almost took hours and only by evening the chariots reached Gundicha Temple where they will stay for 8 days before they start their journey back home known as Bahuda Jatra.

Human emotions at its peak

The Rath Yatra is a live display of human emotions at its peak. Dancers, musicians, and celebrities are seen offering their art at the feet of the Lord. The historic practice of taking the deities out of their Garbh Griha or the sanctum sanctorum where the masses can directly see it makes this festival all the more popular to the masses. As the chariots start to move people all around say of the Lord’s name out of devotion. Tears, Smile and every human emotion can be seen at the grand buffet. These bouts of emotions displayed at the festival set me thinking that I am amongst the fortunate ones who could actually be a part of the celebrations and that too for the first time. Two years later as I pen down this piece I am still getting goosebumps and it won’t be wrong to say that Rath Yatra is not just a tradition, it’s an emotion wrapped in the from of tradition.