Rath Yatra
The Ratha Yatra of Puri, also rendered as the Ratha Jatra, is considered the oldest and largest Hindu chariot festival celebrated annually, on the bright half of the lunar month of Ashadh (June–July).The festival is held at the city of Puri, in the state of Odisha, India and associated with the deity Jagannath (a form of Vishnu or Krishna).During the festival, three deities (Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra) are drawn by a multitude of devotees in three massive, wooden chariots on bada danda (the grand avenue) to Gundicha Temple whereby they reside there for a week and then return to the Jagnannath temple. The "Bada Danda" or the Grand Avenue On the way, the chariot of Jagannatha, Nandighosa (ନନ୍ଦିଘୋଷ) waits near the crematorium of Bhakta Salabega (ଭକ୍ତ ସାଲବେଗ), a Muslim devotee, to pay him tribute. On their way back from the Gundicha Temple, the three deities stop for a while near the Mausi Maa Temple (Aunt's abode) and have an offering of the Poda Pitha, which is a special type of pancake supposed to be the deity's favourite. After a stay of seven days, the deities return to their abode.
The three chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are newly constructed every year with wood of specified trees like phassi, dhausa, etc. They are customarily brought from the ex-princely state of Dasapalla by a specialist team of carpenters who have hereditary rights and privileges for the same. The logs are traditionally set afloat as rafts in the river Mahanadi. These are collected near Puri and then transported by road. The three chariots are decorated as per the unique scheme prescribed and followed for centuries stand on the Bada Danda, the Grand Avenue. The chariots are lined across the wide avenue in front of the temple close to its eastern entrance, which is also known as the Sinhadwara or the Lion's Gate. Around each of the chariots are nine Parsva devatas, painted wooden images representing different deities on the chariots' sides. Each chariot has a charioteer (Sarathi) and four horses.
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