By Ravinjay
Over 1,600 people pulled gigantic deities of Lord Krishna, Lord Balarama and Subhadra Devi on Denpasar’s main streets, celebrating the 2,000 years old Festival of the Chariots (Sri Jagannatha Ratha-yatra) which, since 1967, has been celebrated in London, New York, Paris, Sydney, Moscow and many more cities and towns all over the world.
“The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for Indonesia has been celebrating this Ratha-yatra festival for 12 years in Bali.” Bala Krishna das, head of this year’s committee adds. “Besides the island of the gods, this festival also made it to Medan, Yogyakarta, Lombok, Surabaya, Jakarta and many more town and cities in the country.”
Krishna, also known as ‘Jagannatha’ or the Lord of the Universe, visited the holy site of Kuruksetra where He met His relatives and dear friends from His childhood town of Vrindavan. With love and devotion, the residents of Vrindavan pulled Krishna back to Vrindavan. This Ratha-yatra festival is a modern expression pulling God back into our hearts.
The Hare Krishna devotees came from all over Indonesia to celebrate this festival. Many vegetarian food stalls, gift shops, bookstands and exhibits were set up at the Bajra Sandhi Monument park. The devotees also performed traditional Balinese dances such as Rajeng Dewa and Baris Gede; traditional Indian dances such as the Rasa-lila dance; contemporary acoustic performances; traditional comedies and dramas depicting the glories of Lord Jagannatha.
The festival lasted two days. The first day was dedicated to ISKCON’s founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. His Holiness Kavicandra Swami and His Holiness Subhag Swami publicly glorified their spiritual master and encouraged the Indonesian devotees to follow his instructions. “We need to encourage a united celebration for Srila Prabhupada”, His Holiness Kavicandra Swami, GBC for Indonesia, comments.
On the second day, Sunday the 24th of August 2014, the park was filled with people who were fed by the Hare Krishna Food For Life team. Over 1,500 plates of hot porridge were freely distributed. Over 2,000 people crowded the park to watch the performances and awe at the spectacle of Jagannatha being carried to His cart. As we handed out pamphlets promoting the festival, we were shocked to hear that the people were waiting for the “Krishna cart festival” in Denpasar.
Guests from the World Hindu Parisad, the Indonesian Hindu Parisad and the Office of Culture for Bali Province also attended the event and applauded ISKCON for encouraging unity amongst all people to serve God, which is in accordance to this year’s theme of “sva-dharmena baliyasa” which means “to execute ones eternal activities, offering the results to the Supreme Personality of Godhead” (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.27.7).
We hope to make our Ratha-yatra festivals bigger in Bali, focusing more on inviting the general public to attend. We also would like to encourage more devotees from around the world to attend the next Ratha-yatra in Bali. For more information on ISKCON in Indonesia, visit www.iskcon.id.