Do you know about Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath at puri?

Question

Do you know about Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath at puri?

Answer 1

well... just check the link for more information...

Good Luck

Answer 2

Ratha Yatra is one of the major festivals associated with Lord Jagannath, Puri, Orissa state, India.

It is a large annual festival originating in the city of Puri. Most of the city's society is based around the worship of Lord Jagannath with the ancient temple being the fulcrum of the area.

Usually the deities - Jagannath (Krishna), Baladeva and Subhadra are worshipped within the temple, but on this one day they are taken through the streets so that everyone can have the fortune of seeing them.This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra to their aunt' s temple which is situated at a distance of 2 kilometres from their temple. This is the only day when devotees, who are not allowed in the temple premises such as non-Hindus and foreigners, can get their glimpse of the deities, openly. The Rath carts themselves are some 50-60 feet high and are pulled by the thousands of pilgrims who turn up for the event.Millions of people congregate at Puri for this annual event from all over the country and abroad.

The festival commemorates Krishna's return to His home in Vrindavan after a long period of separation from the people there.

Answer 3

i am stay in Bhubaneswar. I now going to puri

Answer 4

http://www.salagram.net/parishad65.htm

Answer 5

Ratha Yatra is one of the major festivals associated with Lord Jagannath, Puri, Orissa state, India.

It is a large annual festival originating in the city of Puri. Most of the city's society is based around the worship of Lord Jagannath with the ancient temple being the fulcrum of the area.

Usually the deities - Jagannath (Krishna), Baladeva and Subhadra are worshipped within the temple, but on this one day they are taken through the streets so that everyone can have the fortune of seeing them.This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra to their aunt' s temple which is situated at a distance of 2 kilometres from their temple. This is the only day when devotees, who are not allowed in the temple premises such as non-Hindus and foreigners, can get their glimpse of the deities, openly. The Rath carts themselves are some 50-60 feet high and are pulled by the thousands of pilgrims who turn up for the event.Millions of people congregate at Puri for this annual event from all over the country and abroad.

The festival commemorates Krishna's return to His home in Vrindavan after a long period of separation from the people there.

Etymology

Rath Yatra consists of two words: rath, meaning a chariot; and yatra, which means a pilgrimage, a journey or a procession. Accordingly, rath yatra describes a procession of chariots, generally drawn by horses. Vedic scripture speaks of Rath in various contexts, and in the epic wars of the Mahabarath, Rathas formed a major means of movement of warriors. There were many famous Rath Yatras in Hindu legend.

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International Ratha Yatras

The Ratha Yatra festival has become a common sight in most major cities of the world since 1968 through the Hare Krishna movement. Its leader A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada successfully transplanted the festival which now happens on an annual basis in places such as London, Paris and New York.

Puri pronunciation (help·info) is a city in the Indian state of Orissa. The city is famous for its Jagannath temple. Puri is situated on the coast of Bay of Bengal and is a popular beach resort.

Puri is the site of the Govardhana matha, one of the four cardinal institutions established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the others being those at Sringeri, Dwaraka and Jyotirmath.

Puri is also famous for its annual Ratha Yatra, or "Festival of Chariots", when the deities Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra, are brought out of the temple, and placed in a chariot procession. This festival occurs on various dates of the Gregorian calendar, typically in the June or July months.

Puri, known as Shree jagannath Dham, a tirtha to the Hindu world, is also a Seaside Resort, resounding with ancient Vedic traditions symbolising and inter woven with the splendid Temple of Lord Jagannath- the epicenter of odissan culture. The origin and the antiquity of Jagannath worship at Puri is still shrounded in mystery.

    There are many important Tourist places located on the main road to Bhubaneswar, Konark and Satapada. These are main Tourist link destinations of Puri The so called Golden Triangle connects Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark.

Ratha Yatra or Car Festival

  

           Of all the festivals of the year the greatest is the Rath yatra or Car Festival, which commemorates the journey of Krishna from Gokul to Mathura. According to Hindu mythology, Krishna, the ninth incarnation of Vishnu, was the eight son of Basudeva and his wife Devaki. It had been predicted that a son of theirs would kill Kansa, the demon King of Mathura, who typifies the principal of evil. Kansa, therefore, imprisoned Basudeva and his wife, and slew their first six sons; Balarama, the seventh, was abstracted from Devaki’s womb, transferred to that of Rohini, another wife of Basudeva, and so saved.

    

            On the birth of Krishna, the father escaped from Mathura with the child and, crossing the Jamuna, entrusted the infant Krishna to the care of the herdsman king, Nanda of Vraja. In Gokul or Vraja Krishna grew up to manhood. At length, Kansa heard of him and sent a messenger to bring him and his brother to Mathura. The brothers drove in their chariot victoriously to Mathura, where Krishna killed Kansa and ruled in his stead.



             This episode in the life of Krishna is commemorated by the Rath yatra, which takes place in June or July every year. On this occasion the images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are removed from the temple and taken in great chariots to the garden house (Gundicha-bari) along the Bara Danda road, which is about a mile and a half long. Here the gods remain in the car at night, and are taken out next morning and placed in the shrine. They remain there for a week and are then again put in to the cars taken back to the temple, thus commemorating the return journey of Krishna. The rule is that the whole festival should last 9 days, allowing a day the journey to the  Gundicha- bari, a day for the return journey, and 7days for the stay there; but in practice it lasts much longer, the return journey sometimes taking many days. The cars are large structures of considerable height, resembling lofty towers bedecked with tinsel, paintings and wooden statuary. The largest is the car of Jagannath, which is 45 feet in height and 35 feet square, and is supported on 16 wheels with a diameter of 7 feet.





         The brother and sister of Jagannath have separated cars a few feet smaller. The images are brought out from the temple through the Lion Gate and placed on the cars, this being known as the pahandi, a sacred moment when the assembled pilgrims fall on their knees and bow their foreheads in the dust. They then seize the ropes, and drag the cars down the Bara Danda road to the garden house of Jagannath. The distance is only about 1.5 mile, but as the heavy structures have no contrivance to guide them, and the wheels sink deep into the sand, which are some places covers the road; the journey has been known to take several days.



       Once arrived at the garden house, the enthusiasm subsides. By the third day most of the pilgrims have left, and but for professional car-pullers, Jagannath would often be left there. The cars are dragged from the temple by the assembled pilgrims and by a number of villagers, who hold revenue-free lands granted to them as remuneration for the work; when the pilgrims are insufficient to drag the cars back, coolies are engaged from the neighboring villages. In 1904, the pilgrims alone pulled the cars to the country house in 4 hours and brought them back again to the temple without such assistance; in 1907, when 75,000 pilgrims attended the ceremony, the journey was performed in 4.5 hours.

  



The Chariots and the Chariot Festival



             The three chariots are built a new annually excluding the Kalasa, 14 subsidiary deities, charioteers and horses. 1072 pieces of logs (i.e.phasi, dhaura, maie, simili) are brought from Dasapalla and Ranpur forests. Nearly 125 temple carpenters (including helping assistants) work for 58 days at the Mahakhala (in front of the palace) and chisel out 2,188 pieces of wood for the construction of three chariots. The construction work commences on the Akshaya Trutiya. Each chariot is covered with new cloths of radiant colour. Orissa Textile Mills provides nearly 1090 meters of cloths for this purpose. The chariots are fastened with four long sturdy ropes (each 240'-250' with 8" diametre) each so as to facilitate the devotees to pull them.





            The Kerala Coir Corporation provides these specially manufactured coconut fibre ropes. Iron nails, brackets, clamps, etc. used for this purpose are indigenously prepared by the native smiths near the  Dolavedi and it takes them more than a month. The Rath's superstructure (above the wheels) contains eighteen pillars and roofs at various stages which are known as bhuin, potala, parabhadi, etc. There are 34 components of the chariot. Each chariot contains nine parswadevatas (subsidiary deities), two dwarapalas (door keepers), one sarathi (charioteer) and one presiding deity of the crest banner (dhwaja devata), all made of wood.

  



   These are the three head carpenter of three rathas

First one Lingaraj Maharana of Jagannath's Ratha.

Second Krushna  Maharana of Subhadra's Ratha.

Third is Damodara Maharana of Balabhadra's Ratha.







  

  Chariot of Jagannath:

Nandighosa /

Garudadhwaja/

Kapidhwaja Chariot of Balabhadra:

Taladhwaja Chariot of Subhadra:

Darpadalana/

Devadalana/

Padmadhwaja

Number of wheels 16 14 12

Total number of wooden

pieces used 832 763 593

Height 13.5 m. 13.2 m. 12.9 m.

Color of cloth wrappings Red, Yellow Red, Blue Red, Black

Guarded by Garuda Vasudev Jayadurga

Name of the Charioteers Daruka Matali Arjuna

The Flag Trailokyamohini Unnani Nadambika

The Horses Shankha, Balahaka,

Shveta, Haridashva. Tibra, Ghora,

Dirghashrama,

Swarnanava. Rochika, mochika,

Jita, Aparajita

The Ropes Sankhachuda Basuki Swarnachuda

Presiding Nine Deities Varaha, Govardhana,

krushna, Gopi-Krushna,

Nrusimgha, Rama,

Narayana, Trivikrama,

Hanuman and Radra. Ganesha, Kartikeya,

Sarvamangala,

Pralambari, Halayudha,

Mrutyunjaya, Natamvara,

Mukteshwar, Sheshadeva Chandi, Chamunda,

Ugratara, Vanadurga

Shulidurga, Varahi,

Shyama Kali, Mangala

and Vimala.