How Rath Yatra is Celebrated?
Posted on April 28, 2008 in Festivals by Sina
Rath Yatra is celebrated to commemorate Lord Krishna’s return to His home in Vrindavan after a long period of separation from the people of Vrindavan.
Usually the three preciding deities of Puri,- Lord Jagannath( Lord Krishna), Lord Balarama and Goddess Subhadra Devi are worshipped within the temple, but on the day of Rath Yatra they are taken through the streets of Puri so that everyone can have the fortune of seeing Lord Jagannath. The huge processions are accompanied with devotional songs with drums and tambourines.
The festival starts with the Ratha Prathistha i.e.the invoking ceremony in the morning. The Ratha Tana i.e. chariot pulling- the most exciting part of the festival, starts in the late afternoon with great devotion and enthusiasm by the devotees. Gajapati- the ceremonial king of Puri expresses his humility before God by cleaning the chariots with a golden broom with scented water.
After this the huge richly decorated chariots are pulled by thousands of devotees on the bada danda-the grand avenue of the temple to Gundicha temple- the deities aunt’ s temple that is situated at a distance of two kilometer from their temple. After a stay of seven days the deities return to their abode in Srimandira i.e. Jagannath Temple.
The chariot of Lord Jagannath is called as Nandighosa that has 18 wheels and is 23 cubits high; the chariot of Balabhadra is called as Taladhvaja that has 16 wheels and is 22 cubits high; the chariot of Subhadra is called as Devadalana that has 14 wheels and is 21 cubits high
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