Rath Yatra (redirected from rath yatras)

Rath Yatra

June-July; second day of waxing half of Hindu month of Asadha

Rath Yatra is an outpouring of tens of thousands of pilgrims to honor Jagannath, Lord of the Universe, in Puri in the state of Orissa, India. Jagannath, worshipped primarily in Orissa, is a form of Krishna (though the term applies also to Vishnu), and the Jagannath Temple in Puri is one of the largest Hindu temples in the country.
During the festival, wooden images of Jagannath, his brother, Balbhadra, and his sister, Subhadra, are taken in procession in three huge chariots or carts that look like temples and are called raths . They go from the Jagannath Temple to be bathed at Gundicha Mandir, a temple about a mile away; the gods are installed there for a week before being brought back to the Jagannath Temple. This is such a popular festival because all castes are considered equal, and everyone has to eat the food prepared by low caste men at the shrine.
The main chariot has a striped yellow-and-orange canopy 45 feet high with 16 wheels, each seven feet in diameter. It is occupied by scores of riders and pulled by thousands of devotees. Because the moving chariot becomes an inexorable force that could crush anything in its path, the name of the god entered the English language as " Juggernaut ."
The festival is also known as the Jagannath Festival, or Car Festival . Others are held in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh State, in Mahesh, a suburb of Calcutta, West Bengal State, and other areas, but the most impressive Rath Yatra is at Puri.

CONTACTS:
Department of Tourism, Government of Orissa
Paryatan Bhawan, Museum Campus
Bhubaneswar, Orissa 751 014 India
91-674-2432177; fax: 91-674-430887
www.orissatourism.gov.in

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Jul 12
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 537
DictWrldRel-1989, pp. 304, 368
RelHolCal-2004, p. 170