At the height of Indian summer, right at the beginning of the
Monsoon, the Lord of Puri goes to his garden palace for the annual
summer vacation. Originally the festival has its foundation in the
residents of Vrindavan bringing back their Lords, Krishna, Balaram
and Lady Subhadra from Kurukshetra.
Today in Puri He, the Lord of the Universe travels in some style
from his temple in Puri, to his garden temple, located outside the
town centre called Gundicha. Thousands of Hindus flock to see, and
to pull the grand chariots from one temple to the other. The
English word "Jagannaut" comes from the giant chariots of Lord
Jagannath of Puri. The British were so stunned by the size of the
chariots, they coined a word for it!
In Puri, Lord Jagannath is worshipped with his elder brother
Bala-Rama and his sister Subhadra. Each sibling has his / her own
chariot and goes to the summer residence with great pomp. Each of
the chariots is covered in distinctly coloured cloth. Various
symbols and signs help pilgrims distinguish between the three gods.
As a mark of respect, and humbleness, the king of Puri sweeps the
chariots of the Gods of Puri. Festival begins with a huge fanfare
of conches, trumpets, drums and cymbals. Accompanied by music and
dancers, the divine travellers begin their journey to the garden
temple.
In order to accommodate the three chariots, the street leading from
the main temple to the garden temple is very wide. Temples,
ashrams, hotels, inns, shops and mansions of the old aristocracy
line the route. All buildings are colourfully decorated with flags,
buntings and awnings of bright colours. Ladies in colourful saries
crowd the balconies, doors and windows decked with flowers. Men and
women rush to pull the chariots along this main street of Puri.
This is an exciting time in Puri. The Lord who is rarely glimpsed
outside his inner sanctum, is now easily accessible to everyone in
the streets of Puri !
Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, away from the
innumerable temple servants, away from their spouses, the siblings
enjoy their "Vrindavan-like" garden retreat. The temple routine in
the garden temple is very much relaxed compared to the main temple.
Various festivities and fun are planned for their short stay in
this leafy abode. ( Depending on the lunar cycle, this festival can
last anywhere from 1 - 2 weeks. )
As the Lord has only taken his brother and his sister on this
holiday, the wives are left at home! Alone and brooding, Goddess
Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth), seeks help from Goddess Vimala to get
their husband back. Travelling by night, in a closed palanquin, she
arrives at the garden temple of the Lord. She enchants the Lord and
entreats him to return.
A few days later, Lord returns to his city temple. Though
delighted, goddess Lakshmi orders the temple doors to be shut in
His face - in the vain hope of teaching Him a lesson! In the
conversation that follows, female attendants (dev-dasi) of the
Goddess blame the Lord of being inconsiderate, "Jack the Lad",
taking His wife for granted and being far too easily led by the
in-laws (sounds familiar?).
The mood of the sevaks in Puri is that Jagannath is their friend as
opposed to Him being their Master, as in other lilas. In many cases
the residents of Purushottam Sri Kshetra make many comparission
with their own lives in dealing with Jagannath. These intimacies
reflect the overall mood, and carry the tradition of heritage of
Jagannath's original coming to Puri many thousands of years before
and the wonderful pastimes of the saintly Indradyumna maharaj
vision of the Lord, Visvavasu the Sabara's attachment to the Lord
as Nila Madhav, and finally the mystical appearance of the
Dharu-Brahma from which the first Deities were carved by the
architect of the devas Vishvakarma, the mystical carrying of the
log by the descendant of Visvavasu (Virabhadra) that many elephants
and men could not budge. Such wonderful depictive pastimes make
one's hair stand in horipulations at their recitation.
Today in Puri Lord's servants explain that He really had no choice,
as they bring Him back that He went against His will, He still
loves Her deeply and respects Her enormously!! Eventually, the Lord
offers the female gate-keepers bribess and enters the inner sanctum
to pacify the Goddess Lakshmi. Such are the dramas of a married
man's life! The next day, Lord and the Goddess once again appear in
the public, reconciled and as loving as ever. Lord's summer
vacation is over, and life in the great temple returns to its age
old routine.
Of all the festivals, the Ratha Yatra of Jagannatha is the most
famous. This takes place on the second day of the waxing phase of
the moon of the asadha month. Jagannatha ordered King Indradyumna
to take him to his birth place, the Gundica Mandira (symbolically
Vrindavana), on this day.
Jagannatha's ratha is marked with a cakra and garuda, is yellow in
color, with four white horses. The protecting deity is Nrsimha.
Baladeva's cart is blue, with a palm tree insignia, and four black
horses. The protecting deity is Sesa.
Subhadra's cart is black, with lotus insignia, protected by
Vanadurga.
Sudarsana is carried out first and placed on Subhadra's cart. In
succession Subhadra, Baladeva, and Jagannatha are moved to their
carts using silk ropes. After being situated on their carts they
are decorated and worshipped. Midway on the journey, the carts
stop, the deities are bathed in pancamrta and cool water, and
naivedyam and aratrika are offered. On arrival at the Gundica
Mandira, aratrika is offered, and then the deities enter the temple
for rest.
On the fifth day of the lunar month, called Hera (looking for)
Pancami, Laksmi comes looking for Jagannatha with Siva and her maid
servants. When the servants of Jagannatha see her at the first gate
of the Gundica Mandira, they close the door of Jagannatha's bhoga
mandira so that she cannot see him. She becomes angry and breaks a
piece of Jagannatha's ratha. After taking a meal she returns to the
main temple.
On the ninth day of the moon, the return Ratha Yatra takes place,
and Laksmi and her servants come to meet Jagannatha. Jagannatha
gives her his garland to appease her.
Several days later on dvadasi, Laksmi closes the temple doors in
anger and her servants quarrel with Jagannatha's servants. After
Jagannatha concedes defeat, the doors are opened again.
Such is the reverance, the fun, the mysticism, and overall bliss of
Rathyatra in Jagannath Puri.
