Significance of Puri Jagannatha Ratha Yatra
The car festival or chariot festival in Puri is an unprecedented world-famous divine festival in Odisha. It is a grand colourful ceremony endowed with unique significance. It is not a mere religious festival but a public festival held without any discrimination of caste, gender, position or creed.
It is a symbol of religious unity, liberty, equality, fraternity, and compassion. While in the other temples, pilgrims go to visit the main deity in the sanctum sanctorum, here the principal deity itself is taken out into the streets to the common men to be with them for a few days and get back to the sanctum at the end of the festival.
Gundicha Yatra & Ghosha Yatra
The car festival commences on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha. It takes about eleven days for the deities to come back to their original abode. This festival is also known as ‘Gundicha Yatra’ and ‘Ghosha Yatra’.
Gundicha was the queen of Raja Indradyumna who built the first temple. It is known after her name as she had initiated this grand festival.
Unique Significance
The festival has unique significance as it has many exceptions to how such festivals are held in other temples.
Let us have a glance at some of these differences:
- (i) The principal deity here is taken out in procession instead of the processional deities as in vogue in other temples;
- (ii) Every year new chariots are prepared and used instead of the same old ones.
- (iii) It is held elaborately for eleven days.
- (iv) It is a public festival as common people irrespective of caste, creed, sex or position, participate in it.
- (v) Countless number of people take part in it and drag the chariot presenting a spectacle of a sea of humanity.
- (v) The king of Puri sweeps the chariot premises with a golden broom like a common man suggesting that Lord Jagannatha is the real king and all other Lords, however rich they may be, are only his servants.
- (vi) Not one, but three principal deities are taken out of the main temple in procession.
- (vii) The idols are huge and incomplete in shape.
- (viii) The chariots move on and do not stop whatever be the obstacles.
- (ix) The entire temple is in the form of Radha yantra, a hexagon with 16 petals.
Bada Danda
The 3-kilometre Grand Road between Jagannath Temple and Sri Gundicha Temple is known as ‘Bada Danda’. The return journey on the 9th day is known as ‘Bahuda Yatra’. On the tenth day, the three deities are well-decorated in gold ornaments and worshipped by millions of devotees. This is known as the ‘Suna Vesha’.
On the eleventh day morning, the three deities go back to their original abode, marking the end of the utsava.
Elaborate Arrangements
The arrangements for the car festival commence at least two months in advance. The king of Puri issues orders for making arrangements for the construction of the chariot on the second day of the dark fortnight of Vaishakha month.
After selecting the suitable trees as per the tradition, they are cut into several pieces and sent to Puri. The chariot construction is taken up on Akshaya Tritiya by many people including the chief priest, nine chief sculptors and their assistants.
Thus the chariots of Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra Devi are made. The chariot construction will be complete in all respects well in time for the festival.
Names of three Chariots
The chariots have names of their own.
- Jagannatha’s chariot is the biggest and is called Nandi Ghosha. It is adorned with a yellow cloth with red stripes.
- Balabhadra’s chariot is known as Taladwajam,
- while Subhadra Devi’s chariot is known as Debadalana.
Every chariot is attached with a 250-foot-long rope of 8-inch width. They are retained facing north in front of the main door of the temple on the east.
Procession
On the day of the car festival, the idols are taken out for procession at the auspicious hour after the daily ritual of worship through Ananda Bazar and Aruna sthambha.
- The first 5.5-foot-tall idol of Balabhadra is taken out and installed in the Taladhwaja chariot.
- Next, comes Subhadra Devi in the same manner.
- Lastly, it is the turn of the much-awaited Jagannatha 5 feet 7 inches tall to board the chariot with a lot of fanfare.
The carriers of these idols are called Daityas. They are the descendants of King Vishwavasu of the Savara tribe who worshipped the Lord in the form of Nila Madhava even before King Indradyumna. They alone are entitled to this divine task.
Chera Pahaara
As the car festival is about to begin, the Puri king arrives to clean the chariot with a golden broom. This is called “Chera Pahaara”. After sprinkling the sandalwood paste on the Lord, he circumambulates around the three chariots and removes the temporary steps arranged. Musk water is sprinkled before the chariots and mangala harati is offered. Then starts the car festival.
The Grinding Journey
The chariots are dragged by millions of devotees inch by inch. Once the journey begins, there is no looking back and the chariots move on whatever the obstacles. It takes around twelve hours to reach Gundicha temple which is just 3 km away. That night the principal idol rests in the chariot itself.
The next morning it enters the temple with auspicious music. The Lord remains a guest at Gundicha temple for a week and on Dashami (the tenth tithi).
Return Journey
Bahuda yatra, return journey, commences. The three chariots reach Jagannatha temple that afternoon and remain outside the temple itself. On the Ekadashi day, the idols are adorned with golden ornaments. This process is called ‘Sunavesha’.
On Dwadashi, they are placed on the bejewelled throne in the temple, marking the end of the festival.
Sthala Purana (Legend of the Locale)
As per the legend of the locale, Lord Vishnu appears to King Indradyumna and orders him to carve the log of wood that comes floating to the bank of the Chanki River into idols. But none comes to take up the assignment. Then, the heavenly sculptor Vishwakarma comes to the king in disguise and offers to do the job.
He lays down the condition that none should enter the premises and disturb him while working. The king agrees to the condition and the work starts behind the closed shutters. As days pass by, the king gets impatient as no sound is heard from the venue of work.
He wants to know if the work is going or not. Losing patience, he violates the condition and gets the doors opened to have a glance only to find half-finished idols. The sculptor vanishes. But he consecrates those half-finished idols in the temple as per the divine will.
There are varied stories in vogue about the car festival of the temple. Some refer to the journey of Balarama and Krishna to Dwaraka to put an end to Kamsa. Some regard it as the fulfilment of Subhadra Devi’s desire to go back to Dwaraka Gundi. Some believe that after leaving Dwaraka Lord Krishna comes to Puri along with all his relatives and retinue.
Mystery of Radha Yantra
It is said that there is a self-manifest yantra in Puri and hence we are not supposed to visit the main deity of Puri directly. Instead, we have to go around the six sub-temples around the main temple. They are—
- (i) The deity of Vata Mangala under a banyan tree to the south of the temple;
- (ii) The temple of Vimala Devi in the south-west corner;
- (iii) Lord Narasimha Swamy 10 feet tall behind the temple on the second floor in a terrible form;
- (iv) The temple of Maha Lakshmi in the north-west corner in the form of Kamalatmika;
- (vi) The temples of Uttara Durga and Shitala Devi in the north.
Later only after embracing the Garuda Stambha for the fulfilment of our desires, we are supposed to have Jagannatha’s darshan. If all the six temple points are connected, it forms a hexagon with 16 petals.
The entire structure of the temple of ten acres is thus in the form of a Raadha yantram. The yantram is self-manifest, not man-made.
Mystery of Brahma Padartha
It is widely believed that there is Srikrishna’s heart in the principal deity of Puri Jagannath temple. At the end of Dwapara yuga, Srikrishna’s end came through the arrow of a hunter who hit his toe mistaking it for the ears of a deer. The hunter realised his mistake and cremated the body of the Lord with deep grief. He found that the heart of Lord Srikrishna was not burnt and remained as it was. So, he left it in the sea near Puri.
Thousands of years passed and the heart turned into fossil wood known as Neelamadhava emitting blue light. Later, the Lord appeared to King Indradyumna in his dream and asked him to find Neelamadhava and install it in the Jagannatha temple at Puri. Whenever a new idol is made, the heart is transferred to it.
Brahma Paribartan – Brahma Padartha
This ritual that takes place in pitch darkness is called Brahma Paribartan and the heart is called Brahma Padartha. Some opine that it is nothing but powerful Nava Narasimha Yantra and there are different yantras in the other three idols of Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana which are also transferred into the respective idols.
To corroborate this point, one finds Nava Narasimha around the temple.
Nava Yauvana Darshan
Much before the car festival is held, the bathing festival of the deities takes place on the full moon day of the month of Jyestha. On this day, the three deities are taken to the Snana Mandapa (Bathing pandal) and bathed with 108 pitchers of water drawn from a well near the Northern Gate.
Anabasara / Anasara
After the bathing, it is supposed that the deities fall ill and hence are kept away from the public view for 15 days. This period is known as ‘Anabasara’ or ‘Anasara’ in local language. The glimpse of the deities is given only one day before Rath Yatra after repainting them.
This darshan is called ‘Nava Yauvana Darshan’ or ‘Netrotsava’.
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