PURI RATH YATRA - ART AND CULTURE
News:
Rath Yatra underway in Puri, lakhs of people throng the streets
What's in the news?
● Amidst
sweltering heat, a sea of devotees on June 20 surged in the coastal town of
Puri to witness grand spectacle of Rath Yatra — an annual event in which three
deities Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra are taken out in
their respective chariots from 12th century Shree Jagannath Temple.
Key takeaways:
● The
Rath Yatra festival will go on for nine
days.
● The
sibling deities would return from Mausi Maa temple on the ninth day.
● The
idols would be installed in the Shree Jagannath Temple again before other major
rituals such as ‘Suna Besa’ (golden attire of deities) and Adharapana.
Rath Yatra:
● Popularly
known as the ‘Festival of Chariots’,
Rath Yatra festival in honour of Puri’s Lord Jagannath is a grand celebration.
● The
festival is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, his sister Goddess Subhadra and
elder brother Balabhadra.
● All the three deities of
the temple - Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra – travel in three
different chariots during this festival.
● The chariots are
called Nandighosha, Taladhwaja, and Devadalana respectively.
● New
chariots for all the three deities are constructed every year using wood
even if the architect of the chariots remain similar.
● Four wooden horses are
attached to each chariot.
Go back to basics:
Jagannath Temple:
● The
Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Vishnu, in Puri
in the state of Odisha on the eastern coast of India.
● Built
by - Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, first
of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
Architecture of Puri Temple:
● The
Temple of Jagannath at Puri is one of the major Hindu temples in India.
● The
temple is built in the Kalinga style of
architecture, with the Pancharatha (Five chariots) type consisting of two
anurathas, two konakas and one ratha.
● Jagannath
temple is a pancharatha with well-developed
pagas.
● ‘Gajasimhas’ (elephant
lions) carved in recesses of the pagas, the ‘Jhampasimhas’ (Jumping lions) are also
placed properly.
● The
perfect pancharatha temple developed into a Nagara-rekha temple.
● The
temple is built on an elevated platform,
as compared to Lingaraja temple and other temples belonging to this type.
● This
is the first temple in the history of Kalinga temple architecture where all the
chambers like Jagamohan, Bhogamandapa
and Natyamandapa were built along with the main temple.
● There
are miniature shrines on the three
outer sides of the main temple.
Uniqueness:
● The
Temple is one of the four dhams (char
dham) where Lord Jagannath, a form of Lord Vishnu, is worshipped along with
his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra.
● Only Hindus are allowed
inside the shrine to offer prayers to the sibling
deities in the sanctum sanctorum.