jai jagganath

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Jagannath (Sanskrit: jaganntha is a

Hindu deity, a form of Vishnu. The oldest andmost famous Jagannath deity is in the city of Puri,

in Orissa, India (the city is known to many as

Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple)

where each year the famous Rath Yatra festivaltakes place. Jagannath is worshipped all over

India.



L ike Badrinath Rameswaram

Dwarka ,The Jagannath Temple in Puri is regarded as

one of the 4 most sacred Hindu pilgrimage places in

India



. Jagannath Rath Yatra or the' chariot journey of Lord

Jagannatha', observed in the month of Ashadha (June-

July), is a festival that celebrates the annual visit of the God

to his birthplace. Several lakh people converge at Puri for

this festival. An atmosphere of almost hysterical devotion

prevails on this day and in earlier years; devotees were

known to have thrown themselves under the wheels of therath in the hope of obtaining instant salvation. But the

actual preparation starts from the Magha Saptami with the

cutting of trees in distant Daspalla/Nayagarh and nearby

areas for providing the wood necessary for construction of

chariots.



On the third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh, i.e. Akshaya Trutiya, starts theauspicious construction of chariots on theGrand Road of Puri and completed within

a short span of 58 days



The chariots are lined up in front of the Puritemple. The King of Puri with great pomp andceremony then brings the deities to their respective chariots. Devotees offer prayers to

the deities. Descendants of the King, heraldedby gaily-caparisoned elephants sweep thechariot platforms with a gold-handled broom andsprinkle scented water to demonstrate that in theeyes of God, all men are equal. Nowhere else isa deity, once consecrated, taken out of thetemple. The entire yatra is a symbolichumanization of God and an attempt to bringGod down from his pedestal of glory to a morehuman level.





Their Lordships on the bathing altar



Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra

in Their Ga anan Vesha



Lord Jagannath surrounded by devotees belonging

to all religions as it is only on the Rath Yatra day

that Lord Jagannath, along with brother LordBalabhadra, and sister Devi Subhadra come out of

the main temple giving a chance to people of all

religions to have a glance of him.



Each deity has its own massive chariot, whichare replicas of the temple. Jagannatha's chariot,Nandighosha, is yellow in color, 45 ft high andhas 16 wheels, each one seven feet in diameter.

About 4,200 devotees draw the chariot.Balabhadra's chariot is called Taladhvaja, is bluein color and has 14 wheels. Subhadra's chariotis the smallest, with 12 wheels and is calledDeviratha.







Rathyatrra in london





Devotees dancing down Fifth Avenue, NewYork, as the ISKCON rath yatra winds its

way





Ratha Yatra in Berlin





sand sculpture of the deity on thesea beach by well-known sand

artist Sudarsan Pattnaik



When the chariots reach the summerhouse, the idols areinstalled. The journey back, a week later, consists of another ritual, known as Phera Rath Yatra.Every year,the chariots are broken down, its wood sold as relics anda replica made. However the images of the deities arepreserved. It is only when two Ashadha months occur one after the other that the images are changed. Thishappens once in 12 or 24 years. The ceremony, NabaKalebar, consists of burying the old images inside thetemple. Then new images are created. This practice

stems from the belief that in such a year, everything inthe universe changes form, and therefore Jagannathareceives the same treatment.

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