ST LOUIS, MO -- The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) organized a Hindu chariot procession, Rath Yatra, from Hindu Temple of St. Louis to Queeny Park in Ballwin on July 6.
It included a chariot pulled by dozens of devotees over a mile using big ropes with the playing of drums and cymbals along with Lord Krishna chants.
The celebrations also included a cultural program, kirtan, yoga, henna body art, meditation, free community vegetarian meal, arati, etc. The procession road was blocked for about an hour for the parade. A few hundred people participated in the celebrations, whose organizers included Dr. Ashok Kumar, Ramacarya Das, Narayana, etc.
Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada, has commended efforts of the organizers and St. Louis area community to realize this wonderful festival, said to be exhibiting the richness of Hinduism.
Rath Yatra is said to be the oldest known parade in the world and it is believed that pullers of this Lord Jagannatha’s chariot receive immense spiritual benefit. Popularized outside India by ISKCON founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, this annual parade festival has reportedly been held annually in major cities of the world since 1960s.
The original Ratha Jatra is held on a grand scale in Puri (Odisha, India). The presiding deities of Sri Mandira—Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra—with celestial wheel Sudarshana are driven on the chariots to two miles north Gundicha temple in an elaborate ritual procession.
The huge colorfully-decorated chariots are drawn by thousands of devotees. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode in Sri Mandira.
A glimpse of Lord Jagannatha on the chariot is considered to be highly auspicious and even a touch of the chariot is believed to yield benefits equivalent to several pious deeds. Many poets have written its glories.
Source:http://ianslive.in/index.php?param=news/Religious_fervour_marks_Rath_Yatra-520439/Community/54
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