Jagganath Rath Yatra 2021

India is land of culture and tradition; its diversity is the main reason behind such a vast number of festivals, celebrations, rituals and ceremony that we Indians celebrate every year. This forms our culture, which is rich and beautiful. One such instance of our culture that showcase the devotion, unity and purity is Jagannath Rath Yatra, Orissa.
The preparation for Jagannath Puri rath yatra which is held every year during the month of June and July has begin from today. The yatra is held in Puri, located in Orissa in the Jagannath temple. The Jagannath temple is a holy shrine for the devotees constructed by king Chodagan Dev in 12th century. It is no less than a festival for the people of Orissa and lasts for many days.
The word “Jagannath” which stands for lord of universe and rath yatra which refers to chariot journey. The popular yatra is basically about three deities lord Jagannath Bal Bhadra (brother of lord Jagannath) and sister Subhadra who travel from Jagannath temple to Gundicha shrine and they return back to Jagannath, the distance is approximately 3km and the whole celebration lasts for eight to nine days. Three big chariot which are made out of neem wood and other material, these are very tall and have long stretch canopies on the top made out of cloth and thousands of devotees pull these three chariots or rath and it takes 2 to 3 months to make these huge rath who can carry the idol of all three. Every year new rath are designed and the rituals start many days before the rath yatra.
Pulling these rath is considered a good deed and every year there are visitors from around the country to be a part of this extra ordinary rath yatra. It is a 460-year-old tradition, it has immense importance but, from the past two years the Yatra is held in the presence of limited number of people that too the main ones.
Well, this is only one out of many in India most of the time in a year people are celebrating their traditions, rituals and identity. The best part about this is getting to learn about the ancient practices and the importance they carry like why this is done, what is the speciality, where does all this takes place etc. All these things keep us connected to our land and people. Hence, of greater importance specially when you belong to such a diverse nation.