Essay on Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra

Essay on Rath Yatra

Lord Jagannath is a form of Lord Krishna, the complete avatar of Lord Vishnu. In the city of Puri in the state of Odisha, Lord Jagannath visits his sister Subhadra and brother Balarama. 

The name of this city is derived from Jagannath Puri to Puri. Every year the festival of Lord Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra is celebrated with great pomp and show. Lord Jagannath Puri Dham is counted in the Char Dham of Hinduism.

Importance of Lord Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra

Lord Jagannath Puri Dham (Jagannath Puri) has great significance in the four Dhams of Hinduism, Badrinath, Dwarika and Rameswaram. When Guru Adi Shankaracharya came to Puri, he established the Govardhan Math here. Since then Puri has been considered one of the Four Dharmas of Sanatan Dharma.

According to Hindu belief, Lord Vishnu dines in Puri, bathes in Rameswaram, sleeps in Dwarka and meditates in Badrinath. Char Dham Yatra is considered incomplete without a visit to Lord Jagannath in Puri. Two stories are famous to know the importance of Lord Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra,

There are two interesting stories related to Jagannath. In the first story, Shri Krishna came in the dream of his supreme devotee Raj Indradyumna and ordered him to make the Deity of Shri Krishna out of the trunk of a tree lying on the riverside of Puri.

Raj started looking for a qualified carpenter for this task. A few days later a mysterious old Brahmin came and said that he wants to take the responsibility of making the Deity of the Lord.

But he had one condition - that he would make the Deity in the closed room and no one would open the door of the room till his work was finished, otherwise he would leave the work unfinished.
After 6-7 days, 

when the sound of working ceased, he could not keep up with the king and thinking that something must have happened to the Brahmin, he opened the door. But inside, only the incomplete Deity of God was found and the old Brahmin had disappeared. Then the king realized that Brahmins were none other than Vishwakarma, the architect of the Devas.

The king was shocked because the Deity did not have hands and feet and began to regret why he opened the door. But then Narada Muni came in the form of a Brahmin and he told the king that God wanted to incarnate in this form and the thought of opening the door was put by Shri Krishna himself in the mind of the king. Therefore, there is no reason for him to feel shocked and he should be restless because it is the desire of Shri Krishna.

The second story is from the Mahabharata and tells what is the secret of Jagannath's form. Mother Yashoda, Subhadra and Devaki Ji came from Vrindavan to Dwarka. The queens requested him to tell them about Shri Krishna's Bal Lilac. Subhadra Ji was guarding the door, that if Krishna and Balarama come, then they will warn everyone.

But she too became so engrossed in listening to Krishna's Bal Leela, that she did not think of Krishna Balarama's arrival. What they heard from both brothers, they got so much pleasure from it that their hair grew straight, their eyes grew big, their lips smeared a lot and their bodies started melting in the loving atmosphere of devotion.

Subhadra became very emotional, so his body melted the most (and that's why his height is the smallest in Jagannath's temple). Then Narada Muni came and everyone came back to his senses. Seeing this form of Shri Krishna, Narada said, "Lord, how beautiful you look.

When will you take an avatar in this form? "Then Krishna said that he would take such an avatar in Kali Yuga and he took the incarnation of Jagannath in Kali Yuga by naming King Indradyumna.

One day he came in the dream of King Indradyumna and he told the king. Hey Rajan! Make my idol in the trunk of the tree on the banks of the puri and later install it in the temple.

According to Shri Krishna's order, the king started searching for a great magnification for this work and after a long time, a mysterious old man came there. And he said that he wants to take the responsibility of getting the idol of the Lord but he has a condition that he will make the idol in a closed room. When that work is going on, no one will open the door of his room.

If someone does this, then his work will be incomplete. According to the condition of Brahma, the king gave him a room and the sound of work would come. But after a few days, the sound stopped. The king became very upset that nothing could happen to that old Brahman. If he could not stay with them then one day he opened the room.

But inside the room, there was nothing but an incomplete statue of Jannathji. Then the king came to know that that Brahma was none other than Lord Vishwakarma. The king was very sad. Then he reached Narada Muni and told that this was already decided.

Do you know why the Rath Yatra is celebrated from the Jagannath temple?

Among the biggest and oldest festivals in India is the Rath Yatra at Jagannath Temple, do you understand the story behind its celebration?

Jagannath means" lord of the world" and as Hindu deities, Krishna / Vishnu / Rama worshipped in Odisha. Odisha is known for its sacred and famous Jagannath temple, which is in Puri. This year the yatra starts from July 23 and is specially celebrated in Odisha, Jharkhand and portions of eastern India.

Would you understand why it is celebrated?

The internationally celebrated Rath Yatra in countries like Dublin, Moscow and New York is to unveil Jagannath's travel through the Mausi Maa temple in Puri into the Gundicha Temple.

In his memoir of the Rath Yatra, Devadatta Pattanayak, writing on the significance of mythology in modern times, composed,' Pointing to some perishing deity'. 

By means of this memoir, Pattanayak describes his experience of this yatra in rituals, festivities. Done with the story behind and the deity. Keeping in mind his explanation, we'll inform you a few critical things about the symbolism and history of the Rath Yatra.

" Locally Jagannath is called Kalia, affectionately, for shameful, although contemporary colour prejudice many insist that Krishna is indeed blue. He's God, of course, spelt with a capital G., but More than he is the friend., As the main sense in the temple is Sakha-Bhava, dedication throughout the spirit of friendship."

The most unique feature of the temple is that Krishna is worshipped not with the partner, but together with his siblings, his elder brother Balabhadra and his younger sister Subhadra - with the Sudarshan Chakra. Photographs are distorted, with no legs or arms, and are largely proportionless. 

They are not made of stone or metal, but of wood and cloth and resin, and has to, therefore, be replaced occasionally, leading to rituals in which the deities fall sick, die and are reborn.

The story states that while the statue has been carved, the artisan advised the patron king not to open the door before the work on the idols was finished. Nevertheless, the impatient king opened the doorway of the workshop, as he had not heard the noise of wood breaking up and polishing. 

Therefore, the statue was left bare. throughout the festival, the deities are decorated with 208 kg of stone to finish their remaining limbs. The journey begins in Odisha for the service of this rebirth of this deity, called Nabakalebara, which takes place every 10--19 years.

The ritual of Ths happens when the extra month (adhik maas) happens to align with the Hindu lunar calendar to the solar cycle, which appears in summer which creates not just one but two months of Ashadh (June -- July).

Every year, within this month, when the heat is at its peak, the deity and his brothers go out to bathe in public, not able to accept the heat inside the temple. 

It is named Snana Purnima. Subsequently, for a fortnight, Krishna and his brother fall ill after bathing with 108 pitches of water beneath the flowing sun and are kept in a recovery room known as the Unsar Ghar.

When they recover, their appetite returns plus they wish to consume food cooked with their own cousins Gundicha, whose house is a little away from their temple. So Krishna steps on his grand chariot and makes his way there. 

This marks the start of the famous nine-day Jagannath Rath Yatra (this year it starts on July 18), whose huge chariots inspired the British to co-create the term" Baazigar".

Do you know more about the chariots of the gods?

Chariots of the gods have been recently built every year. Jagannath's chariot is named Nandighosha, Balabhadra's chariot is named Taladhvaja and Subhadra is called Dwarpalan. There are a total of 16 wheels on Lord Jagannath's chariot, Lord Balabhadra's chariot 14 and Subhadra's chariot 12.

Do you know what happens throughout the festival?

The Rath Yatra is a symbolic trip of Krishna from youth, so it's carried together with the siblings, not the wife Lakshmi, who's left behind in the main temple, for the latter's jealousy, even for the priests (and maharanis) 

The temple warrior breaks from the ritual, in the days of Yor,), to realize that the great Jagannath also has marital problems like the one next door. The temple food or Mahaprasad, locally called Abha, is extremely famous - as the Puri temple is famous for its own kitchen.

Large pots of food are put on top of one another and cooked with wood fire and steam, starting in the surface.
It is possibly the largest pressure cooker in the world in the form of Pattanik notes.

The adorable part is that the food is made available to each person through a small market adjacent to the temple, also known as Anand Bazaar.

Served on a banana leaf and consumed on the ground, the meal ends in khichdi, lentils, vegetables and a dessert that is most cherished. Famous sweet delicacies of Odisha like Chhena-Poda Pitha (most liked), Baked Rasgulla and Noodle-Jaggery with Kheer date-jaggery porridge.

Also read:- 10 Lines on Rath Yatra in English

Also read:- Essay on Makar Sankranti
Also read:- Essay on Lohri festival
Also read:- Essay on drugs puja
Also read:- Essay on guru padwa

YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THIS ARTICLE

Thank you soo much