Ratha Yatra 2022: when is Hindu Chariot Festival, how is it celebrated, and history explained

Ratha Yatra is a big Indian religious festival and one of the world’s largest chariot festivals
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Ratha Yatra, known as a Chariot festival, is a Hindu celebration associated with Lord Jagannath and held in the Indian states Odisha and Gujarat.

It is celebrated internationally, but the biggest celebrations take place in Puri, India, where three Hindu Gods are taken out of their temples in a colourful explosion to meet their devotees.

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But when is Ratha Yatra in 2022, and what is the story behind the festival? Here’s what you need to know.

When is Ratha Yatra 2022? 

Indian Hindu devotees pull a chariot carrying the icon of Goddess Subhadra, sister of Lord JagannathIndian Hindu devotees pull a chariot carrying the icon of Goddess Subhadra, sister of Lord Jagannath
Indian Hindu devotees pull a chariot carrying the icon of Goddess Subhadra, sister of Lord Jagannath

Ratha Yatra is an annual event, falling on 1 July this year.

In the Hindu calendar, the festival starts on the second day of the waxing moon cycle, known as Shukla paksha, during the month of Ashadha Masa.

In the Gregorian calendar, this festival takes place every summer, usually during June or July.

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The festival is believed to be the oldest chariot procession in the world and is documented in undated Hindu sacred texts, Puranas, which are believed to have been written a few thousand years ago.

What is the legend behind Ratha Yatra? 

The event is known as the Chariot Festival as it sees the ceremonial removal and procession of Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra from their temple to their aunt’s, the Gundicha temple.

It is believed it always rains on the day of the procession. For a week before the festival, no one is allowed inside the temple because it is believed the siblings have a fever after bathing in the sun.

The breaking of their fever calls for a change of scenery, and they go to their aunt’s home for a few days.

The legend starts in different ways.

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One tale speaks of Indrayumna, the King of Puri in the east, who attempted to steal the Hindu God Krishna’s heart.

Krishna’s heart had been immersed in the Dwarka sea after his creation and reappeared to the tribe people as an idol.

When Indrayumna tried to claim it, the idol disappeared, and the king sought forgiveness from Krishna by sanctifying him in another form: an idol made from wood, cloth and resin.

Another legend speaks of how Lord Krishna’s siblings, Balabhadra and Subhadra rushed into the Dwarka sea carrying his half-cremated body. Simultaneously, King Indrayumna dreamt that Krishna’s body floated back up to the shore as a log.

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As a continuation and a merge of the two legends, King Indrayumna decided to build a grand temple for the log, and craft the idols from it.

Legend says Vishwakarma, God’s architect, arrived as an old carpenter and agreed to carve out the idols on the condition he was not to be disturbed.

However, when Vishwakarma did not emerge from the workshop after weeks, without food and water, the king went inside.

The idols were only half-completed, but the carpenter disappeared. Believing the idols were made from the very body of God, the king sanctified them, and placed them in the temple.

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The idols of the sibling deities are malformed, with large heads and no arms.

Temple priests and Hindu devotees carry an idol of Lord Jagannath as a symbolic gesture after the Rath Yatra procession was cancelledTemple priests and Hindu devotees carry an idol of Lord Jagannath as a symbolic gesture after the Rath Yatra procession was cancelled
Temple priests and Hindu devotees carry an idol of Lord Jagannath as a symbolic gesture after the Rath Yatra procession was cancelled

Legend also says that 500 years ago, a Hindu saint and priest of a Hanuman temple in Gujarat Shree Sarangdasji, arrived in Puri, where the shores of the Dwarka sea are located.

The saint offered prayers at the Jagannathan temple. Whilst resting at a house near the temple, it’s believed he had a vision of Lord Jagannath and received instructions to travel back to Ahmedabad in Gujarat and place three idols of Jagannath, Balbhadra and Subhadra there.

The saint carried out these instructions, founding the Ahmedabad Jagannathan Temple. The rituals and procession of chariots replicate the journey taken in Puri, which is why the two main processions take place in Puri and Gujarat.

How is Ratha Yatra celebrated? 

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Millions of people observe as a ‘king’ sweeps the road with a golden mop, and three huge chariots containing the sibling deities make their way through the never-ending crowds.

Their chariots are constructed over 42 days, from over 4,000 pieces of wood. On the chariots are nine Parsva devatas, wood images representing the different deities. Each chariot has a charioteer and four horses.

The chariot belonging to Jagannath, called Nandighosha, is the largest, with red and yellow colours adorning the sides.

Devotees gather around chariots as they wait to pull them during the annual Hindu festival Rath Yatra or chariot procession in Puri Devotees gather around chariots as they wait to pull them during the annual Hindu festival Rath Yatra or chariot procession in Puri
Devotees gather around chariots as they wait to pull them during the annual Hindu festival Rath Yatra or chariot procession in Puri

Here, it’s believed the English word ‘juggernaut’ is derived from Jagannath, due to the sheer enormity of his chariot.

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His brother, Balabhadra, whose chariot is called Taladhwaja, is the second-largest, painted in the colour red and bluish-green. Subhadra’s chariot is called Darpadalana and is in red and black.

After the chariots return to the main temple from the Gundicha temple, the deities are attired in gold ornaments and worshipped on the chariots. This celebration is known as Suna Besha.

At the end of the festival, the chariots are dismantled and their wood is used as fuel in temple kitchens.

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