Rath Yatra or the chariot festival is an important religious festival in Hinduism that involves moving deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana on a chariot. In Sanskrit, chariot means “rath” and “yatra” means journey. Hence, the whole procession is celebrated as chariot festival.

There are many myths about this festival in Hindu mythology. All concerned with the life of Lord Krishna, his brother Balram and sister Subhadra. According to Hinduism, to kill Lord Krishna and Balram, their maternal uncle and a demon Kansa invited them to his mother and to bring them he had send Akrur with a chariot to Gokul, the residence of Lord Krishna and his siblings. In this chariot Lord Krishna headed to Mathura. Devotees celebrates this journey of Lord Krishna to kill the evil as Rath Yatra.

Rath Yatra of Jagannath Puri temple in Indian state of Odisha is hugely famous. These chariots, which are worshiped as sanctum of the temple, brought to Bada Danda (main street of Puri) once in every year in the month of Ashadh (June-July) and devotees pull these huge chariots of 45 feet high, 35 feet square which takes 2 months to construct.

In a tradition named as Chera Pahra the successors of the king of Gajapathi kingdom, wears the outfit of a sweeper and clean the chariots with golden broom and spreading sandalwood water and power with intense devotion. The devotees pull the chariot for the distance of 3 km till its destination, Gundicha Temple.

Throughout the journey, people are allowed to worship and offer their prayers to Lord Krishna and huge amount of devotees from all around the world come to Puri on this occasion to offer their prayers and to take the blessings of the Lord Krishna, Balrama and Subhadra.

Rath Yatras of few other temples such as Dhamrai Jagannath Roth festival and the Rath Yatra of Mahesh are also popular along with the Rath Yatra of Puri. Many Rath Yatras on international places are also held by various organizations across the globe.

By Prajakt K.