The Chariot Festival of Lord Jagannath

This is a world famous festival of Lord Jagannath. After taking His bath, Lord Jagannath becomes sick. A small amount of herbal medicines are supplied to Him as a cure. Later He decides to ride on a chariot to go and see His devotees in Vrindaban. According to Chaitanya Mangala literature, Lord Jagannath temple is considered to be in Dwaraka atmosphere and Gundicha temple is considered to be of Vrindaban atmosphere. This Ratha Yatra festival commemorates Lord Krsna’s going from Dwaraka to Kuruksetra to bathe in the lake there on the solar eclipse day. Radharani, the eternal consort of Krsna, went with some of Her maid assistants and the residents of Vrindaban also went to take bath in Kuruksetra lake on the same day. To make the long history short, when Krsna learned that the residents of Vrindaban had also come to take bath and staying on the other side of the lake under an erected tent, Lord Krsna traveled from His tent to the tent of Radharani to see the residents of Vrindaban in their camp. Going to the camp of Radharani from His own camp, Krsna climbed on a chariot and that is called the Ratha-Yatra festival.

Originally, thousands of years ago, King Indra Dyumna and Queen Gundicha established this Ratha-Yatra festival in Jagannath Puri. Each year each deity rides on their own newly constructed chariot. Each chariot is 45 feet high and 32 feet wide and has 16 wheels. These colossal carts are named specially for Jagannath as Nandighosa , for Baladev as Taladhvaja and for Devi Subhadra as Devadalana. The deities are brought out from the deity room one at a time. First comes Sudarshana Chakra then Subhadra then Balaram and at last Lord Jagannath comes to His chariot while devotees pray ‘Jai Jagannath’ or ‘Jagannath Swami Nayana Pathagami Bhavatu Me’, meaning, ‘O Lord Jagannath, be the object of my vision and clear my pathway to liberation.’ While thousands of people chant this line and hundreds of priests beating hand gongs made of bell metal, the chariots that have wooden horses, are pulled with ropes by thousands of people. Each chariot has a priest who acts as a charioteer for that chariot. Lord Jagannath’s chariot is pulled first and then Subhadra’s and then Baladev’s. Starting from Jagannath temple they travel to Gundicha temple about 3 kilometers covering in one whole day.

While traveling, if Lord Jagannath sees a beautiful young woman. He stops His chariots. Even though thousands of people pull the chariot, the chariot won’t move. Then the chariot driver starts abusing everyone saying, “Who is that beautiful woman? She must go away from here.” Until that beautiful woman moves away from there, Lord Jagannath will not move. In this way while traveling, Lord Jagannath arrives in the Gundicha temple in the afternoon, where He is carried inside: first Subhadra, then Balaram and then Jagannath. They go inside and stay there for seven days. At this time in the Jagannath Temple, there is no one except Lakshmi Devi, who is very angry. Lakshmi Devi, finding Lord Jagannath absent for seven days, comes to Gundicha temple with a cup of water in one hand and a broomstick on the other to beat Jagannath. She finds the gates closed, therefore She throws the water on the gate and hits the gate with the broomstick. Finding this, the guard informs the Lord about angry Laksmi’s arrival and thus Lord remembers that He has to go back. Because He becomes comfortable with the residents of Vrindaban (Gundicha temple resembles Vrindaban and all the residents inside resemble the Vrijavasis). Lord Jagannath forgets about returning back to the temple. Due to the guard’s information, He starts on His chariot back to His temple. This is a short history of Lord Jagannath’s festival.

Daru-Brahman

In Sanskrit, the word Daru means wood and Brahman means the All Pervading Personality of Godhead. In other words, the All Pervading Personality of Godhead has mercifully appeared in the wooden form of Lord Jagannath, so people can see Him and get liberated. Because wood by nature decays in due course, periodically the new forms of Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra are replaced in accordance with Vedic instructions and considerations of great priests whose unbroken birth lineage goes back to Satyayuga. The tree used to make the deities is called Nimba tree. It has to be of a particular age located in the direction of the Konark Sun temple. Following many Vedic rituals, the deities are carved from this tree. This new body to the Lord is given according to the Vedic calendar, where leap year of dual Asadha months occur, i.e. after 8 to 12 years. Many people come to see Lord Jagannath’s new form.

what3words

///presuming.hourglass.inspects