By Gadadhar das
Kolaka is an interior village in the province of South East Sulawesi, Indonesia. The population in this village is around 50,000 and the Hindu population is a mere 10%. A local devotee and doctor by profession by the name Govardhan das, disciple of His Holiness Subhag Swami arranged a wonderful two-day program including a Cida Dahi festival and Ratha Yatra in this small village.
Arrangements started a few weeks in advance and invites were given around the whole of the Province of South East Sulawesi. Devotees arrived in Kolaka on the 22nd September from Tolai, Baras, Balirojo, Kendari and Bali. From some places it nearly took 40 hours for the devotees to reach but nothing could check their enthusiasm for the Lord.
On the 23rd September His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaj arrived in Kolaka and was warmly received. In the late afternoon the first event of the Cida Dahi festival took place. The location was the beautiful Kalomang beach. Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were firstly taken to the sea and bathed there whilst there was an ecstatic kirtan going on. Maharaj then gave a class on the significance of the Cida Dahi festival explaining the various points that occurred in this pastime. Maharaj along with the other devotees began to mix the various ingredients in the chipped rice as it is described in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta. After the arati ceremony devotees distributed the nectarine chipped rice to all present at the beach. Many of other faiths were very responsive to the kirtan and prasadam.
‘The sufferings of humanity are due to forgetfulness of Krishna as the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor and the supreme friend. Therefore, to act to revive this consciousness within the entire human society is the highest welfare work. One cannot be engaged in such first-class welfare work without being liberated.’
The following day was the Ratha Yatra festival. Many devotees stayed up the whole night stringing flower garlands, preparing prasadam and decorating the chariot for the day ahead. The program started in the afternoon with various cultural performances for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath. Maharaj then spoke for an hour on the identity of Lord Jagannath and various pastimes. The crowd listened with rapt attention. Maharaj then offered arati to Their Lordships and coconuts were smashed into order to remove inauspiciousness by various VIP guests including: the local village, tribal leaders and local Hindu Parishad delegates. After Maharaj swept the floor before the Lord then chariot was on its way. The route was around the village and amidst the tumultuous kirtan was book distribution and prasad distribution.
‘…the role of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was examining whether the Lord still remembered the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu fell behind the Ratha car, Jagannātha-deva, Kṛṣṇa Himself, understood the mind of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī…’ (CC Madhya 13.119, Purport)
At the end of the procession there was great appreciation by the local leaders as well as the locals from other faiths. The village leaders requested the devotees to hold the Ratha Yatra program every year. We hope Srila Prabhupada is pleased in our efforts to fulfil His desire that Krishna Consciousness be spread in every town and village across the globe.
‘The Ratha-carts were very strong and attractive and I thank you and all of your assistants for working so hard to prepare such nice carts. May Krishna bless you all for your sincere service that you may all go on making more and more advancement in Krishna Consciousness.’ Letter to Jayananda — New York 19 July, 1976
Our ever-grateful obeisances are due to HH Kavicandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, the GBCs of Indonesia, for their support and guidance, to always look for new avenues for sankirtan. Our humble obeisances to HH Subhag Swami for always reminding us of the importance of the Sankirtan movement of Mahaprabhu and inspiring us with the dedication of Sriman Jayananda Prabhu, for bringing us closer to Srila Prabhupada and keeping us united in the family of ISKCON.
These are the photos of the festival:
Kolaka Cida Dahi Festival 2022: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ar3RnpbnXz9L9oSvwNATOmsXnTCKZIi0?usp=sharing
Kolaka Ratha Yatra Festival 2022: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/164VJnsN1DWNXC5E5yHUNeqnc3nb0rzIC?usp=sharing