Oriya community celebrates Jagannath Rath Yatra, marking 25 yrs of devotion

The Oriya community residing in Ludhiana has been organising the Rath Yatra on the lines of the Jagannath Puri festival in Odisha for about twenty-five years. This year, the festival was celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm at the temple built in Jagannath Puram, Chander Nagar, on Friday. Devotees from across the state visited the temple to take part in the Rath Yatra.

Children, women, and men - not only from the Oriya community but also local Punjabis - participated in the celebration and danced while chanting 'Hare Krishna', 'Hari Bol'. Community members danced barefoot in the scorching heat while taking the idols of Lord Jagannath, Subhadra and Balram to install them on a beautifully decorated chariot. The devotees expressed feeling blessed on witnessing the youthful form of the Lord, who is adorned with Tulsi buds on this day.

Interestingly, when the Lord is taken from the temple towards the chariot, the idol is first placed on a swing chair, which devotees drag along the road while chanting Hare Krishna. Devotees said this gesture symbolises that Lord Jagannath is playing with them.

Providing further details, Bikram Diatapati from the Jagannath Puram Temple Samiti said preparations for the festival begin on Akshay Tritiya and take about one and a half months to complete.

Diatapati, while sharing the story of the temple's construction in Chander Nagar, said, "The foundation stone of the temple was laid in 1979 after acquiring land and the Oriya community living in the city contributed wholeheartedly to its construction. Initially, a Shivling was installed in the temple and worshipped. Later, we installed idols of Lord Jagannath, Subhadra and Balram, which were crafted from neem wood specially brought from Puri, as the idol of Lord Jagannath is always made from wood, not metal or stone. After crafting these idols, they were taken to the Jagannath Puri temple in Odisha where the Lord was invoked and then the same idols were installed here in Ludhiana. The Rath Yatra tradition here was started only in the year 2000."

Bikram added that the Rath Yatra began from Jagannath Puram in the afternoon and passed through various parts of the city, allowing devotees to pay their reverence to the Lord. The chariot passed through Chander Nagar, Deep Nagar, Vrindavan Road, Kailash Cinema Chowk, Dandi Swami, Haibowal and then reached the 'Massi' house (also known as Gundicha Temple) located in Chander Nagar near Jagannath Puram, where the Lord will reside for nine days. After this, the Lord will once again be placed on the chariot for three days outside the temple, before finally being reinstalled in the temple.

Bikram Diatapati also mentioned that before the start of the Rath Yatra, Suraj Pradhan, who was given the ceremonial role of Raja Adhikari, arrived and swept the road with a broom made of gold. "The Raja is made to clean the road to signify that even a king must sweep the path with a golden broom, as Lord Jagannath, the King of the Universe, is to pass through," he said.

Not only members of the Oriya community but also Punjabis have been participating in the Rath Yatra in large numbers.