Puri Rath Yatra 2014 - Jagannath Rath Yatra in 2014

By Priyanka Mahajan

Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra 2014 date is June 29. Puri Jagannath Temple in Orissa is famous all over the world for its chariot or car festival Puri Rath Yatra. Puri is situated on the eastern coast of Orissa. It has enormous cultural and spiritual significance. It is a renowned place and is world famous for its Jagannath and Konarak temples.

Rath Yatra in Puri is a well known event, held every year. This festival is celebrated for Lord Jagannath, who is believed to be the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna. It is a 9 day long festival. The vivid Rath Yatra attracts a number of Indian as well as foreign tourists. As per traditional Oriya Calendar it is celebrated on the second day of the Shukla Paksha (waxing phase of moon or bright fortnight) in Ashadh month. On the Ratha Yatra day, the chariots carrying Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra is pulled to the nearby Gundicha Temple where lord Krishna is worshipped as ‘Jagannath’ – ‘master of the universe. Balabhadra is Lord Krishna's elder brother and Subhadra is his younger sister.

On the Akshaya Tritiya day the making of the rathas for the annual festival begins. Many rituals are performed during the whole Rath Yatra. Some of the main rituals that are performed in the Rath Yatra festival are spread over a month and several others, like Snana Purnima and Anasara, take place during the following period. On the full moon day in the month of Jyestha i.e. May to June, the Snana Yatra or Snana Purnima (Bathing Festival) takes place. The religious ritual of bathing the three deities with 108 pitchers of water is performed on this day.

Next to the Snana Yatra festival comes 'Anasara' in which the three deities are kept away from the public view as there is a popular belief  that after the grand ritualistic bath the deities catch fever and thus they do not return to the sacred temple.After 15 days of ‘anasara’ the idols of the 3 deities make an appearance for the public view in a new avatar.The whole process is known as ‘Navya Yauvana Vesha'.

After their majestic appearence, thousands of devotees full of enthusiasm and spirit pull the three big chariots carrying Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra through the grand Bada Danda to the Gundicha Temple. As per the tradition the idols of the three deities are brought to meet their aunt here. The deities enter the temple to meet their aunt on the next day and stay with her for the next seven days. It is believed that on the fifth day, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Jagannath, comes searching for him to the Gundicha temple. She finds his chariot there and damages it and goes back in anger.

As the weeklong stay ends, the three deities proceed further for the Bahuda Yatra, their return journey, during which the lord Jagannath's chariot stops at the Ardhasani Temple. At this temple, the Lord accepts Poda Pitha made of rice from his aunt who is the deity of the temple. After accepting the rice cake the 3 gods on the chariot arrive at the Puri Jagannath Temple in the evening where they wait outside for the day. The auspicious ceremony of dressing up the three gods in new costumes is performed on the next day.this is known as "Suna Vesa". The succeeding day the deities are moved to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. This marks the end of thae world famous Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra. The whole festival depicts the journey of lord Krishna from Gokul to Mathura - A Journey from darkness to light!