The Festival of Chariots returns
DURBAN’S popular Ratha Yatra or the Festival of Chariots makes a return this year but the event has been scaled down.
The fair will be hosted by the New Jagannath Puri Temple which is part of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Phoenix, on Sunday at Addington Beach.
The chariot peace procession starts at 1.30pm along Marine Parade to Suncoast.
Krsangi Radhe Dasi, the public relations officer for ISKCON Durban, said the festival had been taking place for 30 years.
She said it involved people re-enacting ancient Vedic traditions that were practised in India; and that a vegetable meal would be served. But, unlike previous years, the entertainment aspect was on hold to focus on the chariot peace procession.
She said the event was open to everyone and anyone could get involved in pulling the chariot, dancing, chanting, and dressing up.
“We would love to feel the togetherness once again and experience this wonderful festival through these dark times of the world.”
Dasi said the act of hauling a chariot was similar to that of pulling God closer to people’s hearts.