Lord Jagannath and the Rath Yatra

       (2020 edition).........COVID-19  restricted Rath Yatra.......

                             

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        LORD  JAGANNATH &
                                    THE WORLD FAMOUS  CAR  FESTIVAL    
On the occasion of Rath Yatra (Car Festival), this year held on July 4th, 2019 and upcoming Bahuda, let me express a few words on Lord Jagannath. Lord Jagannath, literally means, the Lord of this entire world.
Can you believe, one of his devotees, Mr. K.K Sharma from Delhi,is going to create a history this year, by taking up a project at his own cost, to decorate the temples and the raths (chariots) with  a unique design of flowers, on the occasion of Rath Yatra, Suna Vesha, Niladri Bije. You all must have seen his tremendous dreams come true.  Approximately, the cost of 15 to 20 trips of flowers, 200 to 300 artists and a budget of more than 15 to 20 lakhs was borne by him.               
                                                                                      

 Lord Jagannath is worshipped as a form of Lord Krishna. He, along with his siblings, Balabhadra and Subhadra are the prime deities of the Temple of Puri. The all-mighty and all-powerful Lord of Puri is the result of Lord Krishna's leelas.Originally, Jagannatha was worshipped as Nila Madhava by an aboriginal chief secretly at this spot, while it was covered with dense forest. It was Indradyumna, who made him a public deity. The story goes, there was a king in Malwa in central India, Indradyumna by name. He was a great devotee to Visnu. For those who are not acquainted with the names of Hindu gods and goddesses, it may be stated here that the Hindus believe in the cosmic trio namely Brahma, Visnu and Siva. Brahma is the creator of the universe, Visnu is the sustainer and Siva is the destroyer. Indradyumna developed in him a rather queer and eccentric desire to see Visnu in his most perfect form on the face of the earth. He had a divine communication in dream that Visnu could be seen in his best form in Utkala (another name of ancient Odisha). So, he deputed Vidyapati, the brother of the royal priest, to spot out the place where Visnu had such a manifestation and to report his findings to him. Accordingly, Vidyapati visited Odisha and after laborious search, came to know that Visnu known by the highly connotative name of Nila Madhava, was being worshipped somewhere on a hill in a dense forest. This was also an image of extraordinary lusture. Vidyapati could also know that Nila Madhava was the family-deity of Visvavasu, a Savara (an aboriginal tribe) chief. So great was the secrecy maintained about the location of Nila Madhava that Visvavasu refused on request to show Vidyapati the place of his worship. Later still, this Brahmin married Lalita, the daughter of the aboriginal chief, but even then, he was not shown the deity. At last, at the request of his beloved daughter, he took his son-in-law blindfolded to a cave on a hillock where Nila Madhava was being worshipped. As Vidyapati was made to go through the forest on foot, he could somehow manage to drop mustard seeds on the ground. As the seeds germinated after a few days, Vidyapati could easily trace the way to the lonely cave of Nila Madhava.

Thereafter, Vidyapati returned to Malwa and described his experiences to Indradyumna who immediately set out on a pilgrimage to Odisha. But, when he reached this holy land, he found that Nila Madhava had miraculously disappeared. When he was thus in a state of deep sorrow, he received a divine direction to go to the sea-shore at Puri and to draw ashore a log of wood that would be floating on the waves. From this divine log, the body of Jagannatha, who is no other than Visnu himself, was to be fabricated in a befitting manner. , All this came to pass as per the divine indication and a log of wood brought from the sea was ready for fabrication of the image of Jagannatha out of it. But there was none to be entrusted with the work, since nobody could say that he had seen Visnu and could convince the king as to how Visnu could be fabricated in his best form out of a log of wood. At last, Visnu took pity on his great devotee and appeared before him as an old carpenter. After some discussion, he could evoke confidence in the king about his capabilities. As per his suggestion; it was decided that he should be allowed to remain in a closed room with the log of wood for long twenty one days to do the needful. He gave a severe warning that under no circumstances should he be disturbed or the door be opened within the specified date. The story goes, after fifteen days, Gundica, the queen, being very kind-hearted, could not resist the temptation to persuade the king to open the door as she apprehended that the carpenter might have died by then, as, no sound of any kind was heard from within. Thus, when the door was opened at the king's command, no trace of the carpenter could be found and all that could be seen was a set of four wooden images in incomplete form, i.e., the form in which we see and worship the images of Jagannatha, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarsana at present.

The world famous Car Festival of Lord Jagannath is held on' AshadhaSukla Dwitiya' -i.e. the 2nd day of the bright fort-night of Ashadha (June- July) every year. This festival is popularly known as Ratha Yatra, Gundicha Yatra and also Ghosha Yatra. On the Car Festival day, the deities are taken out of the temple and placed in their respective chariots, kept near the Singhadwar. The deities are carried to the chariots in a traditional ceremonial manner-first Sudarshana, followed by Balabhadra, Subhadra and Jagannath. Balabhadra and Jagannath are made to swing forward and backward in a manner called 'Pahandi'.

The chariot of Lord Jagannath is known as Nandighosha. It has 16 (sixteen). wheels and the colour of the fabrics that cover the roof of the chariot are red and yellow. The chariot of Lord Balabhadra is known as Taladhwaja. It has 14 (fourteen) wheels and the colours of the fabrics are red and green. Subhadra's chariot 'Devadalana' has 12 (twelve) wheels and fabrics are red and black. Sudarshan is seated by the side of Subhadra in her chariot. Madanmohan, a representative deity of Jagannath sits in the chariot of Lord Jagannath. So also two other small idols -Rama and Krishna take their seats in the chariot of Balabhadra. These small idols are made of metal. Thus actually seven deities namely Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra, Sudarshana, Madanmohan, Rama and Krishna are seated on three chariots and moved to a temple known as 'Gundicha Ghar' which is at a distance of about 3 kms from Jagannath Temple. The chariot of Balabhadra is dragged first, followed by those of Subhadra and Jagannath.

On the first day if any chariot cannot reach the Gundicha Ghar, it is dragged on the next day. On the ninth day i.e. the Return Car Festival day, the deities are brought to the Singhadwar area of the Jagannath Temple. An important ritual performed, on the 5th day (starting from and including the day of Car Festival) is known as 'Hera Panchami', when goddess Laxmi proceeds to Gundicha Ghar to see Lord Jagannath. In the evening of the lOth day (i.e. the 11th day of the bright fortnight of Asadha) the deities are adorned with gold ornaments and dressed gorgeously in their respective chatiots parked in the Simhadwar area. On the same day another ritual called 'Hari Sayan Ekadasi' is performed. On the following day i.e. the 12th day of the bright fortnight, important ceremony known as' Adharapana Bhog' is performed. A sweet drink is offered to the deities. On the evening of the following day, the deities are taken to the temple in a traditional procession amidst gathering of thousands of devotees.