Starting in 1973, residents of New Vrindaban, West Virginia, held their own small rural Rathayatra festival on the farm, a sweet event with Lord Jagannath riding a succession of different charmingly rustic makeshift carts.
In the early 2000s, Malati Devi, one of the organizers of San Francisco’s 1967 Rathayatra – the first outside India – commissioned a proper traditional chariot and the festival grew in popularity within the community.
Then in 2016, the Rathayatra became a public annual even
This year we won't get the chance to pull Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi's chariots through the streets but don’t let that dampen your spirits. Get ready to welcome Them into your hearts this weekend!
ISKCON Berlin, London, Radhadesh and Zurich are organizing the Spirit of Ratha Yatra, a unique first-time European virtual collaboration festival jointly hosted on Saturday 18th July, 11:00 - 17:00 CEST / 10:00 - 16:00 BST.
The festivities will include Deity darshans, history
In what is normally an event with 30-40,000 people in attendance, the Festival of India/Chariots was down scaled substantially due to the epic Covid-19 epidemic. That’s the reality today—learn to adjust.
The organizers of this year‘s program in Toronto operated as cool as cucumbers, as usual, and their approach to this beloved event was full of innovation. Deities of Jagannath were stationed in a convertible and were taken for a ride down the customary route of Yonge St to the waterfront at Su
Sri Baladeva, Subhadra and Jagannath
On 12 July, 2020, Summertime is Ratha Yatra time! The Ratha Yatra festival is a celebration of reunion, when Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra, who had been separated from Their devotees during a two-week “sick” leave, finally return and are taken out on a pleasure ride in a gorgeously decorated chariot. On a deeper level, it signifies the ecstatic reunion of Krishna with the residents of Vrindaban aft
When devotees at the ISKCON temple in Sydney, Australia, couldn’t organize their regular full-fledged outdoor Rathayatra festival due to COVID-19 restrictions, they decided to bring the whole city of Puri and a new custom-built chariot into their temple room for a small indoor Rathayatra.
Carried out in consultation with head pujari Bhaja Govinda Das, the event for the pleasure of Their Lordships Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra took place on June 23rd, the date
By Raas Raman Krishna Das
Amidst the uncertainties, whether there would be ‘Rath Yatra 2020′ or not, holy Puri’s three chariots were taken out in grand procession. Lord Jagganatha not only came out with his siblings but also maintained the continuity of the age old festival.
Devotees around the world got satiated after their lordships’ darshans though it was all virtually. Year 2020 is really going quite heavy for not only material persons materially but also for the devotees’ community spiritua
Croydon devotees decided to do the Rathyatra differently this year because of COVID 19 social distancing. We have had a wonderful Jagannath Rathyatra done in the car not in the cart.
Jagannath, Baldev and Subhadra went to 15 houses to give darshan to Their devotees in the car. The Rathyatra team had made a list of local devotees where Lordships could visit. The devotees were sent a WhatsApp message asking confirmation and their address. The time slot was given to everyone in which Lordships will
The history of the establishment of the great temple in Puri, and the hypocrisy of temple priests as opposed to sincere devotional worship in pure love of God. Written by the Thakur in English, 1871.
There is not a Hindu who has not heard the name of this temple. The old and the young, the male and the female, the Rajah and the ryot, and the weak and the stout, all visit this temple out of a religious curiosity. Three hundred and one miles south-west of the Vice-Regal palace at Calcutta, stands
Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: With flames of protest erupting in Odisha over the untimely Rath Yatra organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on the occasion of Basant Panchami in Mumbai, Yudhistir Govinda Das, national director of communications, ISKCON (New Delhi) has finally released a statement mentioning that the chariot fest of the Holy Trinity is being observed as per the scriptures.
“Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb in November 2019 had sugge
The latest tour by ISKCON Youth Ministry saw youth help put on four Rathayatras in the Caribbean, and some become inspired to take on active roles in the Hare Krishna Movement.
A total of about twenty-five youth participated throughout the tour, with fourteen from around the US being joined by about five local youth in both the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Ages ranged from seventeen to twenty-four, with the tour running from December 14th to January 5th.
Three Rathaya
By Giriraj Swami
Today is Odana-sasthi, the date on which Lord Jagannatha is given a winter shawl. One year, when Lord Chaitanya and His associates celebrated this festival in Puri, Pundarika Vidyanidhi, who is Vrsabhanu Maharaja, Srimati Radharani’s father, in krsna-lila, received some special mercy. His experience is instructive for us all.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward,
A very special and sacred festival of Lord Jagannath held in the full-moon day of the month of Jyestha. This festival is known as 'Devasnan Purnima' or 'Snana Yatra' (Bathing Festival). There is a general belief that the devotee washes away all his sins if he gets a vision of the Lord on this day, therefore, it attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. According to Skanda Purana when King Indradyumna installed the wooden deities he arranged this bathing ceremony.
On the previous
