The Ratha Yatra of Puri,
also rendered as the Ratha Jatra, lit. ‘Chariot festival’, which
begins this year on July 7, is considered the oldest and largest Hindu chariot
festival celebrated annually, on the bright half of the lunar month
of Ashadh (June–July). The festival is held at the city of Puri, in
the state of Odisha, India and associated with the deity Jagannath (a form of
Vishnu or Krishna). During the festival, three deities (Jagannath, his brother
Balabhadra and sister Subhadra) are drawn by a multitude of devotees in three
massive, wooden chariots on bada danda (the grand avenue)
to Gundicha Temple whereby they reside there for a week and then
return to the Jagannath temple. This return trip is referred to as the
Bahuda Yatra.
On the way, the chariot of Jagannatha,
Nandighosa waits near the crematorium of Bhakta Salabega, a Muslim devotee, to
pay him tribute.
On their way back from the Gundicha
Temple, the three deities stop for a while near the Mausi Maa
Temple (Aunt's abode) and have an offering of the Poda Pitha, which is a
special type of pancake supposed to be the deity's favourite. After a stay of
seven days, the deities return to their abode.
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