Ratha Yatra .. ରଥ ଯାତ୍ରା
ratha Yatra .. ରଥ ଯାତ୍ରା
1..this spectacular chariot festival is held at the famous jagannath temple in puri.ratha Yatra is also known as the car festival.this festival is celebrated in the Asadha month of the Hindu calendar , on the second day of the lunar fortnight, that falls during June-july.
2..Rath Yatra is celebrated in the honour of lord Jagannath who is believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu.One of the many legends goes that indradyamana, the king of Avanti, went to puri to have darshan of Vishnu, but he found that the God had disappeared . The sage Narad assured indradyamana that Vishnu would appear before him in the temple in the form of three wooden images. when a big tree , radiant with light was seen floating in the sea, Narada told him to make tree idols out of it and place them in a pavilion.indradyamana got Visvakarma- the architect of Gods-to build a magnificent temple to house the idols and Vishnu himself appeared in the guise of a carpenter to make the idols on condition that he was to be left undisturbed until he finished the work. Unable to restrain his curiosity,
indradyamana went to see Vishnu at work at which the latter abandoned his work, leaving the image unfinished.But a divine voice told indradyamana to install them in the temple.But a divine voice told indradyamana to install them in the temple.But a divine voice told indradyamana to install them in the temple.
the three images represent; the lord Jagannath; his elder brother ,Balabhadra and their sister, subhadra. On the day of the festival , the images are taken out in procession in three ornate chariot, to their aunt's house,for a week's sojourn. The main chariot of lord Jagannath is 14 metres high and 10 metres square in area with 16 wheels.the ropes of the huge chariots are pulled by millions of devotees.
3.in earlier times, devotees would occasionally throw themselves intront of the chariot of lord Jagannath, for it was believed that to be crushed to death under its sixteen wheels was the passport toheaven .Since, lord Jagannath is a form of Vishnu and lord Krishna,many of the rituals observed in the jagannath temple are associated with events from the life of lord Krishna. Thus, the annual car festival also represents lord Krishna's journey from Gokul to Mathura.
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