Jai Jagannath!
The fact behind the celebration is that Lord Jagannath who is none other than Lord
Krishna himself travels to his garden temple-Gundicha located in Sundarachala.
This travelling of Lord in his chariot from his palace to temple is called Rath Yatra
or Gundicha Yatra by Odiya devotees. On the other hand, when Sri Krishna left
for Mathura and then Dwaraka, the gopis of Vrindavan did not like it. Their was
a feeling of separation from Sri Krishna. Once Gopis with Srimati Radha Rani met
Lord in Kurukshretra during solar eclipse. They wanted to take Krishna back to
Vrindavan, thus they pulled Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra’s chariot with the
rope. This festival symbolizes this mood of devotees to bring the Lord back to
Vrindavan and Gundicha temple symbolizes Vrindavan. There is a huge
procession with dance and sound of conches, sankirtan, bhajans sung for
the pleasure of Lord in front of His chariot.
Bodhan, a nondescript town on the fringes of Telangana could catch attention of Sriman Gour Gopal Das Adhikari. He, though based in Hyderabad, has been preaching in the area for quite some time. He has cultivated several devotees and under his guidance the town has been celebrating all the major Vaishnava festivals in a big way with very active local support, especially from Vitthal prabhu and Vaishali mataji. The congregation is known as Seva Kunj congregation in the circle of devotees.
This year, the Seva Kunj congregation celebrated its third Jagannath Shobha Yatra with pomp and grandeur on 2nd July 2023. The beautiful deities had come from Hyderabad where They are lovingly served by HG Shyamsunder prabhu and HG Nityatripta mataji. Bhaktas from Hyderabad and Bodhan gathered to pull the chariot of the Lord of the Universe, in the process trying to pull Them right into their hearts.
About 3.30 pm the divine procession of the deities began. Despite the sweltering heat, devotees participated enthusiastically. The air was rife with the chants of-
“Jai Jagannath, “Jai Jagannath”.
“Jai Baladev”, “Jai Subhadra mai” and “Hare Krishna Mahamatra”.
The devotees danced merrily, a few put rangolis to welcome the Lord, as He moved forward. A few of the devotees distributed books, a few distributed delicious prasadam to all and sundry as Jagannathji’s ratha trudged forward.
Sriman Gour Gopal Das Adhikari Prabhuji led the sankirtan while coordinating the yatra route. Bhakta Kaushik and Bhakta Shyam played on the djembe, a few played on kartals.
The melodious sound of sankirtan was attracting nearby residents and they too joined the Shobha yatra egaerly.
The Lord, Subradra Mai and Baladeva looked majestic and heavenly, seated on Their chariot. No one could take their eyes off the deities. It was as if Lord had descended from His abode and watched His own celebration. So blissful was
the atmosphere!
The Lord along with His divine siblings, attracted everybody as He cast His merciful glance on all and sundry. The devotees danced feverishly amidst Harinam chanting and repeated chorus of “Jai Jagannath Jai Jai Jagannath…….” It was so divine that one could feel being spiritually uplifted.
The pathway before the chariot was ceremoniously swept by broom stick by different devotees. They also broke coconuts in front of the chariot to invoke auspiciousness.
Streets were adorned with rangoli designs. Mridang and Kartals added to the festive
ambience. Neighbours and nearby residents hearing the sound and chanting of the Lord’s name joined the procession, trying to touch and pull the chariot’s rope.
Prior to the commencement of the Rath Yatra, devotees from nearby districts
gathered in a Community Hall for prasadam.
After prasadam, all devotees gathered in a group in the bus while they were
traveling to their destination. The loud echo of Lord’s name could be
heard all over the place through speakers. The sound of mridanga, kartal and
conch added to the divinity. The priests served the Lord in the canopied chariot, as the procession made its slow serpentine way through the main street.
“All Glories to Srila Prabhupada” Jai Jagannath!
This year more than 600 devotees participated in Jagannath Shobha Yatra, the number slowly swelling. A few of the congregation devotees had come with their own small Jagannath, Subhadra, Baladev deities to join the procession. Small children carrying the deities, matajis carrying tulasi pots, different hoardings of Srila Prabhupada and of the deities were a blissful sight.
The Shobha yatra took little more than two hours following the defined route under full security. To beat the heat, time to time water bottles were distributed to the devotees and they continued non stop chanting of the Lord’s name. Hariiii Bol!
After the Yatra reached its final destination, all the arrangements were done on the stage of the community hall which was beautifully decorated with flowers and garlands and decorative lights. Lord’s entry was much awaited. Lakshmi devi was in maan and denied entry to Jagannath. All the matajis represented Lakshmi’s retinue – no way letting Him in. No amount of pleading was working, but at the end Jagannathji used His force, serpenting His way in, breaking all human barricades.
Interestingly, victory or loss, when the tussle is with the Lord, the devotee is always in the win-win situation. Though they had lost the battle with Jagannath, yet all of them enthusiastically shouted as soon as Lord Jagannath forced His entry sitting on Gour Gopal prabhu’s head. As He entered the hall there was a roar of Lord’s name
“Jagannath swami ki jai, Subhadra Mai ki Jai, Baladev dau ki Jai !! I could see
tears rolling down from one of the devotee’s eyes seeing Jagannath ji. Soon Chappan Bhoga comprising of 108 items was offered followed by arati. Then all the devotees were given an opportunity to take the blessing of the Lord and offer flowers at the lotus feet of Lord Jagannath.
As the day ended, we all had widespread sumptuous prasadam and got settled in our buses to reach our home. May His blessing be there with all of us. May this Yatra be organised again and again and may be we become a part of it again and agaib every year with same enthusiasm and devotional feeling. Jai Jagannath.
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