Pulling together in the Festival of Chariots

The spectacular parade along Sea Point promenade symbolised the power of unity

THE beautiful Sea Point promenade in Cape Town witnessed an extraordinary spectacle last Saturday. A tall wooden chariot with three deities was being pulled with the help of ropes by hundreds of devotees, cutting across race, religion and age.

As the large wooden wheels of the chariot rolled along Beach Road, the entire spectacle turned into an occasion for singing and dancing, celebrating the devotion of multitudes to the presiding deities in Jagannath Temple in the temple town of Puri in Orissa, the eastern Indian province famed for its art and architecture, spiritual heritage and pristine natural beauty.

Jagannath Temple, the majestic monument known for its architectural splendour, was built in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. At 65 metres it’s the tallest temple in Odisha. Jagannath Temple is also the abode to Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra.

Lord Jagannath is identified with Lord Vishnu and his incarnation, Lord Krishna, the object of worship of millions around the world – including the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), also known as the Hare Krishna movement, the body that organised the Rath Yatra (Festival of Chariots) procession along the Sea Point Promenade.

The festival is celebrated every year in June/July in Puri, when the presiding deities of Jagannath Temple are taken from the main temple to another temple a few kilometres away

in three chariots drawn by hundreds of thousands of devotees.

After a stay of a week, the deities return to their original abode.

The three chariots are constructed anew every year with wood of specified trees by a specialist team of carpenters whose skills have been passed down generations.

Pride of place in the Festival of Chariots is occupied by the chariot of Lord Jagannath, a 14m-high and 45m-square (at the base level) mobile structure with 16 wooden wheels, each of 1.2m in diameter.

The chariot is covered with red and yellow cloth.

The chariot of Lord Balabhadra is 13.5m high with 14 wheels, and is covered with red and blue cloth.

Goddess Subhadra’s chariot is 13m

high with 12 wheels.

This chariot is decked with a covering of red and black cloth, black being traditionally associated with Shakti and the Mother Goddess.

Historically, the King of Puri has been cleaning the platform and the surface of the Grand Avenue, the route of the chariot before the commencement of the Rath Yatra (journey of the chariots).

This ritual is meant to signify that all are equal before the Lord.

Rath Yatra is itself meant as an occasion when the Lord leaves his abode and goes out to meet his beloved devotees, probably one of the few instances in the world where the Lord conducts such an “outreach exercise” to honour his devotees.

It is a demonstration of the essence of equality and integration, without any distinction or barrier before the supreme being.

It’s precisely because of this profound message that the Festival of

Chariots has become a global cultural phenomenon. It is now celebrated in dozens of countries.

The first Rath Yatra ever held outside of India was in San Francisco in 1967, at the behest of Srila Prabhupada, the founder of Iskcon. New York has been hosting its own annual Rath Yatra since 1976.

The Festival of Chariots draws throngs in other places such as Washington DC, Dubai, Bahrain, Perth, Auckland, Venice, Madrid, Rome, Sao Paulo, Peru, Moscow, Kyoto, Nairobi, Kampala and Durban .

Breaking across cultural, religious and geographical barriers, the Rath Yatra demonstrates the universal appreciation of the message of love and devotion.

The procession of Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra or Festival of Chariots is a spectacle full of dance, colour, devotion and drama.

The sights and sounds of three chariots of such dimensions and exuberance moving along the spacious Grand Avenue in Puri with the help of thick coconut-fibre ropes pulled by hundreds in the midst of millions of devotees chanting and singing and dancing is something to behold.

This spectacle of such epic proportions and intensity represented such an overwhelming force that it inspired the English word “juggernaut”, from Lord Jagannath.

Juggernaut it does become, when barriers are broken and people unite for a purpose.

Breaking across cultural, religious and geographical barriers, the Rath Yatra demonstrates the universal appreciation of the message of love