On Saturday, January 16, 2010, ISKCON Coimbatore organized its 18th annualSri Jagannath Rathayatra festival, which passes through the streets of theold part of Coimbatore city.Coimbatore, located some five hundred kilometers West of Chennai (formerlyknown as “Madras”) is the second largest city in the Tamil Nadu state inSouth India. At present the population of Coimbatore, also known as“Kovai”, is about two million (twenty lakhs).Lord Jagannath's Rath at Coimbatore with extended canopy stands fourty twofeet high!Before the beginning of Rathayatra, there was a gathering at the oldVenugopal Swami temple, on Salaivan Street in downtown Coimbatore. Upon thearrival at the Mandapam (stage erected on the side of the temple ofVenugopal Swami) of Lord Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadradevi and the Murti ofSrila Prabhupada, Their Lordships were greeted by traditional “purna kumbha”with veda mantras, and a large contingent of lady devotees standing oneither side of the entrance area with “dipas” (traditional ghee wick lamps)and flowers that they offered to Their Lordships.Special Guest Sri A.M. Rajagopalan, the editor of the well known TamilAstrological magazine, “Kumudam Jyotidam”, who came from Chennai to attendthe Rathayatra (he is 86 years old) addressed the gathering and highlypraised of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada.The Deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadradevi were then carriedabout a furlong away to the site of the start of the Rathayatra, well knownlocally as “Thermutti”. The Mayor of Coimbatore, Sri R. Venkatachalam,inaugurated the procession by sweeping the road in front of the Rath with abroom with a golden handle, as is the ancient tradition at Jagannath Puri,where the Gajapati Maharaj (the King of Puri) performs the same ritual,signifying his subservience to the Lord.A large contingent of Police was posted to protect the Rathayatra and tomake sure there was no untoward incident, throughout the route of theprocession.The Rathayatra started from Thermutti, near the Coimbatore town hall. Theprocession passed through “Open Car Street”, Vaishyal Street, Karape GounderStreet, and back to Thermutti. The route covers approximately threekilometers .Throughout the procession, devotees amongst the general public approachedLord Jagannath's Rath with offerings of fruits, sweets and coconuts.The large number of assembled ISKCON devotees performed continuous harinamsankirtan throughout the procession. Additionally, various groups ofSrivaishnava devotees also joined the procession and performed harinamsankirtan throughout.Also there were traditional “nadaswaram” musicians playing nadaswarams andthe thavil (drums) throughout the procession.Behind Lord Jagannath's Rath there was continuous distribution of“pulihodarai” (tamarind rice) prasad in cups from a truck, to the masses whowere witnessing the passing of the Rathayatra throughout the Rathayatraroute.Senior ISKCON devotees, H.H. Bhanu Swami, GBC for Tamil Nadu and Kerala,H.H. Bhakti Vinoda Swami, Zonal Secertary for parts of Tamil Nadu and Keralaand Temple President of ISKCON Coimbatore, Basu Ghosh Das, Temple Presidentof ISKCON Baroda (Gujarat) Sumitra Krishna Das, Temple President of ISKCONChennai, Jagat Sakshi Das, ISKCON Trivandrum (Kerala) temple President,Vanamali Gopal Das, General Manager of ISKCON Kumbhakonam, Vibhav KrishnaDas, Narahari Das, and Sudhir Chaitanya Das, all leaders of the ISKCONJagannath Mandir at Bangalore, were present.Also, many ISKCON devotees and ISKCON congregational devotees from aroundTamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka attended the Rathayatra. Devotees fromMadurai, Salem, Kumbhakonam, Tiruchi, Chennai, Bangalore, and various placesin Kerala participated in the Rathayatra.In the evening H.H. Bhanu Swami and Basu Ghosh Das addressed the assembleddevotees who gathered at the Padmavati Cultural Center on the Avinashi Roadfor satsanga and prasadam. Sumptuous dinner prasadam was distributed thereto one and all.
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