Stories behind Jagannath Rath Yatra

Jagnnath Rath Yatra is a Hindu festival which is celebrated in Puri, Odisha every year. In this Lord Jagnnath (incarnation of Lord Vishnu), Balarama and Subhadra are taken on chariots with thousands of people. According to the Hindu mythology Lord Jagnnanth, Balarama and Subhadra are siblings. This year the Jagannath Rath Yatra will be held on 20^th June.

The History:

According to the Hindu mythology once Subhadra expressed her desire to her brothers Lord Krishna and Balarama about visiting the city. Then both the brothers took their sister on a chariot to visit the city. On the way all three went to their aunt’s house and stayed there for seven days then returned to Puri after visiting the city. After this the tradition to take all three on the chariot to visit all the city started.

Interesting facts about Jagannath Rath Yatra:

During the journey, the chariot of Lord Jagannath always stops for some time at the tomb of Saalveg, a Muslim devotee. The reason behind this that Saalveg could not reach the temple to see Lord Krishna and after his death when his tomb was made, the chariot of jagannath automatically stopped there and did not move for a while. Then peace prayer was done for his soul and then the chariot could move forward. After this every year during the Yatra chariot always stops here for some time.

Nor a single nail or any metal is used to making all three chariots of Jagannath Rath Yatra. It makes with only Neem wood. It is called ‘Daru’ in local language. Neem wood chooses on the day of Basant Panchami and started work to making the chariots on the day of Akshaya Tritiya. The chariot of Lord Jagannath contains 16 wheels.

There is another interesting fact that all the three chariots have their name like Nandigosh of Lord Jagannath, Taaldhwaj of Balarama and Darpdalan of Subhadra. The height of these chariots are 45.6 feet, 45 feet and 44.6 feet respectively. Not only this but colours are also different of these three chariots like Nandigosh paints with yellow and red, Taaldwaj with green and red and Darpdalan with black and red.

When all the three chariots are decorated for the journey then the king of Puri’s palaki comes and worships. It is called ‘Chhar Pehnra’ in local language. After this, the Rath Mandap and the way of the Rath Yatra are cleaned with a golden broom.