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| Rath Yatra (Chariot Festival) | |
|---|---|
 Three chariots of the deities with the Temple in the background, Puri | |
| Also called | Ghosa Jatra, Gundicha Yatra |
| Observed by | Hindu |
| Type | Religious |
| Begins | AshadhaShuklaDwitiya |
| Ends | Ashadha ShuklaDashami |
| 2024 date | 7 July |
| 2025 date | 27 June |
| 2026 date | 16 July |
| Duration | 1 week, 2 days from Āsādha shukla paksha dwitiya to Dashami tithi also known as "Bahuda Jatra (Yatra)" |
| Frequency | annual |
Rath Yatra[a] (/ˈrʌθəˈjɑːtrə/), (transl. Chariot Festival orCar Festival), is any public procession in a chariot.[3][4] They are held annually during festivals inIndia,Bangladesh,Nepal, andSri Lanka.[5] The term also refers to the popular annualRatha Yatra ofPuri[6] that involves a public procession with a chariot with deitiesJagannath (Vishnu avatar),Balabhadra (his brother),Subhadra (his sister), andSudarshana Chakra (his weapon) on aratha, which is a woodendeula-shaped chariot.[7][8]
Ratha Yatra processions have been historically common in Vishnu-related traditions of Hinduism—such as those dedicated to Jagannath, Rama, and Krishna—across India, particularly in the city of Puri in the state of Odisha,[9] as well as in Shiva-related traditions,[10] in honor of saints and goddesses in Nepal,[11] withTirthankaras inJainism,[12] and among tribal folk religions in the eastern states of India.[13] Notable Ratha Yatras in India include theRatha Yatra of Puri, theDhamrai Ratha Yatra inBangladesh and theRatha Yatra of Mahesh. Hindu communities outside India, such as in Singapore, celebrate Ratha Yatra such as those associated withJagannath,Krishna,Shiva andMariamman.[14] According to Knut Jacobsen, aRatha Yatra has religious origins and meaning, but the events have a major community heritage, social sharing and cultural significance to the organizers and participants.[15]
Western impressions of the Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Puri as a display of unstoppable force are the origin of the English wordjuggernaut.
Ratha Yatra is derived from two Sanskrit words,Ratha, which means chariot or carriage, andYatra which means journey or pilgrimage.[16]
Ratha Yatra is a journey in a chariot accompanied by the public. It typically refers to a procession (journey) of deities, people dressed like deities, or simply religious saints and political leaders.[5] The term appears in medieval texts of India such as thePuranas, which mention the Ratha Yatra ofSurya (Sun god), ofDevi (Mother goddess), and ofVishnu. These chariot journeys have elaborate celebrations where the individuals or the deities come out of a temple accompanied by the public journeying with them through theKsetra (region, streets) to another temple or to the river or the sea. Sometimes the festivities include returning to the sacrosanctum of the temple.[5][17]
TravelerFa-Hien who visited India during 400 CE notes the way temple car festivals were celebrated in India.
The cities and towns of this country [Magadha] are the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom [Mathura through Deccan]. The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of four storeys by means of bamboos tied together. This is supported by a king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope. White and silk-like cloth of hair is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colours. They make figures of devas, with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli grandly blended and having silken streamers and canopies hung out over them. On the four sides are niches, with a Buddha seated in each, and a Bodhisattva standing in attendance on him. There may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. On the day mentioned, the monks and laity within the borders all come together; they have singers and skillful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and incense. The Brahmans come and invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so in order, and remain two nights in it. All through the night they keep lamps burning, have skillful music, and present offerings. This is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The Heads of the Vaisya families in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed people and cripples, and all who are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves.
— Faxian, c. 415 CE[18]
The first European description of this festival is found in a thirteenth-century account by theLate MedievalFranciscan friar and missionaryOdoric of Pordenone, who describes Hindus, as a religioussacrifice, casting themselves under the wheels of these huge chariots and being crushed to death. Odoric's description was later taken up and elaborated upon in the popular fourteenth-centuryTravels of John Mandeville.[19]
There are records of Hindu devotees intentionally casting themselves under the wheels of the chariot and being crushed, as they considered it a holy act. Contemporaneous reports from colonialKolkata allude to this, describing intentional suicides at the processions which were either tacitly allowed or else ignored by clerics, despite the practice being prohibited by government policy.[20]
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Dhamrai Jagannath Ratha is a chariot temple, aRoth, dedicated to theHindu GodJagannath located inDhamrai,Bangladesh. The annual Jagannath Ratha Yatra is a famous Hindu festival attracting thousands of people. The Ratha Yatra in Dhamrai is one of the most important events for the Hindu community of Bangladesh.[24] The original historical Roth was burnt down by the Pakistan Army in 1971.[17] The Roth has since been rebuilt with Indian assistance.
The Rathayatra of Mahesh is the second oldestchariot festival inIndia (after the Rath Yatra at Puri) and the oldest inBengal,[25] having been celebrated since 1396 CE.[26] It is a month-long festival held at Mahesh inSerampore ofWest Bengal and a grand fair is held at that time. People throng to have a share in pulling the long ropes (Roshi) attached to the chariots of LordJagannath,Balarama andSubhadra on the journey from the temple to Gundicha Bari (Masir bari) and back.Subhadra is worshipped withKrishna in Jagannath Yatra.[27]
The practice of Ratha Yatra inManipur was introduced in the nineteenth century. TheKhaki Ngamba chronicle mentions that on a Monday in either April or May 1829, theKing of ManipurGambhir Singh was passing throughSylhet whilst on a British expedition against theKhasis. Two processions were being prepared by Sylhet'sMuslim andHindu communities respectively. TheIslamic month ofMuharram in thehistory of Sylhet was a lively time during whichtazia processions were common. This happened to fall on the same day as Ratha Yatra. Sensing possible communal violence, the Faujdar of Sylhet,Ganar Khan, requested the Hindu community to delay their festival by one day. Contrary to the Nawab's statement, a riot emerged between the two communities. As aHindu himself, Singh managed to defend the Hindus and disperse the Muslim rioters with his Manipuri troops. The Ratha Yatra was not delayed, and Singh stayed to take part in it. Revered by the Hindu community as a defender of their faith, he enjoyed the procession and initiated the practice of celebrating Ratha Yatra and worshippingJagannath in his own homeland ofManipur.[28]
The Ratha Yatra festival has become a common sight in most major cities of the world since 1968 through theISKCONHare Krishna movement.A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada popularised the festival globally, which now happens on an annual basis in over 108 cities including:Moscow,New York,Houston,Atlanta,London,Rome,Zurich,Kolkata,Mumbai,Karachi,Berlin,Heidelberg,Cologne,Florence,Wrocław,Sydney,Perth,Kampala,Nairobi,Mombasa,Kisumu,Mexico City,Dublin,Belfast,Manchester,Birmingham,Alchevsk,Buenos Aires,Madrid,Stockholm,Bath,Budapest,Auckland,Melbourne,Montreal,Paris,Copenhagen,Amsterdam,Los Angeles,Toronto,Vancouver,Santiago,Tallinn,Lima,Antwerp,Sofia,Kuala Lumpur,Dubai,Oslo,Zhongshan,Myitkyina,Bangkok,Port of Spain,Manama,Rijeka and many other cities.[29]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.The Bastar royal family figures prominently in the script and the props include a huge chariot that is first built, then ritually 'stolen', and then again recovered and pulled ceremonially through the streets of Jagdalpur
Another attraction of this 'tribal Dusshra', is a double-decked Ratha (Chariot) with eight wheels and weighing about 30 tonnes.
Gonarkhan
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