By Adi Purusa Krsna dasa
For the first time ever ISKCON Adelaide Hare Krishna Temple celebrated Jagannath Ratha Yatra (Jagannath Chariot Festival) on Sunday 26th January as part of the Australia Day celebration which included a parade, concert & fireworks! Jagannath or the Lord of the Universe is a very merciful form of Krishna and can be easily identified by His big round eyes, huge smile from ear to ear and stunted limbs. He was placed on a chariot and was hand-drawn by about 50 delightful devotees. The chariot began in Franklin St and after passing through the city’s main King William Road ended in Elder Park. About 50,000 people cheered on as the chariot wound its way through the streets.
Ratha Yatra originates in Jagannatha Puri on the east coast of India and dates back over 2,000 years. It is India’s biggest festival held to commemorate Krishna’s joyful return to his home in Vrindavan after a long period of separation from the people there. Over a million pilgrims gather at Puri in the state of Orissa during June or July to haul gigantic chariots through the main street, the air filling with the reverb of metal gongs, meditative chanting and the blowing of conch shells and trumpets.
Here in Adelaide men and women in their traditional Vaishnava attire and gopi chandana tilak prominent on their foreheads sang kirtans glorifying the Lord. At the appropriate time the chariot began to move to loud chants of ‘Jai Jagannath’ with children in their prams leading the parade reflecting a family-friendly mood. The ecstatic kirtan was led by HH Ramai Swami who kept the crowd spellbound with his vocal expertise.
The festival has become a common sight in Australia and most major cities of the world since 1968 through the efforts of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) movement and now takes place on an annual basis in places all over the world in over 100 cities including London, Montreal, Paris, New York, Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, Venice and all major cities of India. The only downside was that ‘Ratha Mela’ (fairs) in which expositions depicting the ancient vedic philosophy like Law of Karma , Reincarnation, prasadam and book distribution etc were missing due to stringent rules of the City Council.
Adi Purusa Krsna dasa
ISKCON Adelaide
