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 Puri Rath Yatra, famously known as the Car Festival of Puri, is the most elaborate and pious festival in Orissa, India, that has still not ceased to astound believers and visitors, locals and tourists alike, with its magnificence.
Seas of people flow in from all direction to get a look at Lord Jagannath of Puri. They jostle amongst themselves, as waves would do in an ocean, to grab hold of the rope that draws Lord Jagannath's chariot forward. Be a part of the crowd; join in their earthly pursuits of drawing the chariot forward to its destination on your tour to Puri, Orissa, during the Puri Rath Yatra, with Tourism of Orissa tour packages.
The festivities begin 15 days before the actual Rath Yatra. On the Jyestha Purnima (full moon day in June), the idols of Lord Jagannath and his sibling are brought for a bathing festival in public (Snana Jatra) after which they would rest away from the public eye. During this resting period, they are touched up, repainted and dressed in gold ornaments and heavy embroidery clothes, and are made ready for the Car Festival.
Celebrated on the auspicious fortnight of the Ashadha month (June - July), the Puri Rath Yatra is a 3 km journey to the Gundicha Temple, where Lord Jagannath's aunt resides. After a 9 days stay at their aunt's home, the return journey is a reversal of the famous temple procession that is known to you and me as the Puri Rath Yatra.
The temple priests (pandas) carry out the idols of the deities from the temple, onto the temple steps, to their respective thrones in their chariots. Not once are the idols of lord Jagannath and their siblings allowed to touch the bare earth. Gold broomsticks sweep the earth and cushions are dusted, fluffed and replaced with each stop for resting of the deities. Odissi dancers perform with such passion that even the overflowing crowds take time out from staring at the idols to appreciate the energetic rendition of classical dance items.
You too can be a part of the experience on your tour to Puri, Orissa, during the Puri Rath Yatra Festival, with Tourism of Orissa tour packages.
At the end of the procession from the temple to the chariot, Lord Jagannath assumes the throne in the 23 cubits high chariot with 18 wheels named Nandighose; his brother Balabhadra takes his place in a 22 cubit high chariot with 16 wheels called Taldwaja; and his sister rests in a 21 cubits high chariot with 14 wheels named Devadalan.
It is time for you to move beyond the pictures of the Puri Rath Yatra and see for yourself the temple style chariots - decorated in the finest handicrafts and arts tradition of Orissa and designed along the ancient guidelines of chariot construction - being pulled by devotees and priests, on your tour to Puri with Tourism of Orissa tour packages.
You can also attend the Chandan Yatra that is held in June before the Puri Rath Yatra. Though held before the Rath Yatra in the peak of summer, the Chandan Yatra marks the end of the Temple processions and festivities that surround the worship of Lord Jagannath of Puri in Orissa. Here, the idols of the lord are taken out for 21 consecutive days on boat rides to the Narendra Sarobar (tank) to be bathed after application of chandan.
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