Rath Yatra Puri 2011 - Jagannath Puri
Location: Puri, Orissa (India)
Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra 2011: 3rd July to 12th July 2011(Ashad Month)
Duration: 9 to 10 Days
Rath Yatra Puri is celebrated annually in the month of June to July in Orissa, Eastern India. This festival continues for 9 days and it attracts millions of pilgrims from different corners of the world. This year the festival will be celebarted from 3rd of July 2011 to 12th of July 2011.On the full moon day of the Jayeshtha known as Snana Purnima, the idols of Balabhadra, Jagannath, and Balabhadra are made to bath in the pendal known as Snarlamandap according to the religious rites.
Each year in the mid summer, the proxy images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are carried in colorful procession every evening. These images are brought to Narendera tank where all the basic ablutions are performed. For 21 days this activity is carried continuously every evening. The chariots are cleaned by ‘Gajapati’ thought to be the servant of deities. On this particular day he performs the duty of scavenger to demonstrate social nobility in action. This place also connects to the story of king ‘Purushottam’ who was deceived by the minister to marry princess Padmavati. From this day onwards, the deities go to Gundichagar from where they stay for eight and from that point the return of ‘Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra’ starts. The return of Ratha or car is also called as ‘Bahuda Yatra’ takes place. This festival continues for 9 days. Extending over five kosas (approx 16 km), Puri resembles a right-oriented conch-shell, the ‘Dakshinavarta Sankha’, which is why it is also called the Sankha Kshetra. Puri was once a thickly wooded hilly region, home to the Sabaras, a pre-Aryan and pre-Dravidian tribe. Originally, Jagannath was secretly worshipped as Nila Madhava by a Sabara chief. Indradyumna, the king of Malwa, an ardent devotee of Vishnu, wished to see the lord in his most perfect form. The devotee was told in a dream that the deity could be seen thus in Utkala, as Orissa was originally known. Vidyapati, the brother of the king’s royal priest, was deputed to find the lord. After a laborious search, he found that Nila Madhava, an image of extraordinary lustre, was the family deity of Visvavasu, a Sabara chief. Visvavasu refused to divulge the secret place of worship to Vidyapati, who stayed on to marry Lalita, Visvavasu’s daughter. Unable to refuse his daughter, Visvavasu took his son-in-law blindfolded to a cave on a hillock in a densely forested place. Vidyapati somehow managed to drop mustard seeds along the way, which sprouted in a few days and showed the way to the lonely dwelling of Nila Madhava. Having thus traced where the deity was located, Vidyapati returned to Malwa and described his experiences to Indradyumna, who immediately set upon a pilgrimage to Orissa. But when he arrived there, he found that Nila Madhava had disappeared! Deep in sorrow, the king then received a divine instruction to go to the seashore at Puri and draw ashore a log of wood that would be floating on the waves. The deity was to be interned in a new image, and carved out of the log. A mysterious old man then appeared and offered to carve the image. He was allowed to do so, on condition that nobody would open the closed room, where he would work for three weeks. But, 14 days after the work had started, Gundicha, Indradyumna’s impatient queen, pushed the doors open. Thus, the old sculptor, who was really Biswakarma, the architect of the gods himself, disappeared, leaving the three idols incomplete, in which form they are seen to this day. There is a Gundicha Temple at the opposite end of Bada Danda and the Puri Rath Yatra halts here every year.
In the divine procession of carrying deities on the chariots also called as ‘Pahandi Bije’. Millions of pilgrims pull the Ratha on the beats of the rhythmic drums. The traditional king sweeps the chariots with the golden boom(rope) and the followers wearing the golden attire pull it up to Gundichagar. Similar kind of Rath Yatra is carried from Gundichagar to the place from the Yatra was commenced. This Yatra is carried for 10 days during the period of Ashadha Shukla Dashmi. The Rath is pulled from roped by the pilgrims. On the first day, the main deity Jagannath, incarnation of lord Krishna is brought on the chariots. The lord in yellow attire along with other deities is offered bhog (khichdi) or food. During the next seven days the deities are kept inside the temple. The pilgrims in the long ques and scorching heat of sun wait for long hours to do the darshan of their lord. On the 7th day lord is brought back from Gundicha temple. On the way, the lord is offered Khichdi at Mausina temple. When two months of Ashadha fall in one year Rath Yatra or Nabakalebar is observed by millions of pilgrims. The old deities are buried near by the temple and the new deities are carved from the Magossa tree. Double Ashadha occurs after 12 years.
The pilgrims who are planning to visit and participate in the Rath Yatra Puri can also book Hotels in Puri. Provided with all the necessary facilities the Puri hotels take care of each and every need of the pilgrims. Right from offering vegetarian food to maintaining the peaceful environs, the decorum of the accommodation is considered in line with the ethics set by the temple authorities. The pilgrims have to wear the golden or white colored attire during the processions. Special rules are to be followed while the pilgrims participate in this grand event.
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