Jul 06, 2011 - INDIA (SUN) — On Sunday, July 3, 2011, corresponding to "aashaadh shukla dvitiyaa" (the second day of the waxing fortnight of the month of aashaadh), ISKCON Baroda observed the thirtieth annual Jagannath Rathayatra mahotsav ("festival of the Chariot").
The Rathayatra began at 2:30 PM, the traditional time, at the traditional place, the Baroda Railway Station. The Honorable Mayor of Baroda, Smt. Dr. Jyotiben Pandya, inaugurated the Rathayatra by performing arati to Their Lordships, Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadradevi, and then sweeping the road in front of the Rath cart with a golden handled broom. Many social and political leaders of Baroda attended the inauguration of the procession at the Railway Station.
Jasomatinandan das, ISKCON Gujarat Zonal Secretary addressed the crowd before the inaugural function.
Senior ISKCON devotees H.H. Bhakti Vikas Swami, Deena Bandhu das of ISKCON Vrindavan, Jasomatinandan das, Zonal Secretary of ISKCON Gujarat, Basu Ghosh das, President of ISKCON Baroda, Priti Vardhana das, Co-Director of the Bhaktivedanta Academy, Mayapur - with 20 gurukula students, Murli Mohan das, Co-President of ISKCON Vijayawada, Surapati das, Temple President of ISKCON Lucknow, Radha Ranjan das, Vice President of ISKCON Kanpur, Rajasuya das, President of ISKCON Ludhiana, Bhaktivinod das, President of ISKCON Chandigarh, and Damodar Dulal das of the ISKCON Juhu Bombay farm project at Talasari, Thane, Maharashtra, all joined in the Rathayatra, along with a number of other devotees from various places.
Fifteen tons (fifteen thousand kilos) of halava ("shiro") all cooked in "deshi ghee" were distributed to the crowds of devotees lining the streets from the back of four trucks, which followed Lord Jagannath's Rath. In front of the Rath, there was continuous kirtan performed by devotees. In addition to the "harinam sankirtan", the crowds shouted "Jaya Ranchod, Makan Chor" (Glories to Lord Krishna, the Ranchor, Glories to Lord Krishna, the "butter thief"), in reference to the popular Deity of Lord Krishna here in Gujarat, "Ranchodji".
Also there were several horse carts with children dressed as Lord Krishna and Lord Ramachandra, etc., depicting various "lilas" (pastimes) of the Lord as described in the Puranas, Mahabharata and Valmiki Ramayana.
This year the Rath experienced mechanical failure for the first time in the thirty year history of the festival, and pulling of the Rath by ropes was suspended when the bearing in the drive shaft of the steering wheel broke. The Rath was then pushed and pulled by a small group of persons for most of the length of the procession.
This did not dampen the enthusiasm of the public to have darshan of ("to see") the Lord's Rath, but in fact the delay in the procession due to the problem increased the eagerness of the public to have darshan of the Rath and Their Lordships.
Local print media suggested that more than two hundred thousand citizens of Baroda lined the streets to have a darshan of Their Lordships.
At the conclusion of the Rathayatra, Bhakti Vikas Swami of the UK and Deena Bandhu das of the USA addressed the crowd, both speaking in Hindi, just before a concluding arati was performed by ISKCON Baroda head pujari Seva Vilas das.
After the Rathayatra, full bhojan (meals) prasad was served to thousands of visitors at ISKCON Baroda. The temple grounds (six acres campus of ISKCON Baroda) was packed with visitors on the evening and into the night of the Rathayatra day.
Pictures of the Rathayatra as well as scans of local newspaper clippings of the Rathayatra appear at our photo gallery.
Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadradevi, Sudarshan chakra ki jaya! Jagannath Rathayatra mahotsav ki Jaya! Jagannath Swami ki jaya!
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