Festival of chariots – Durban, South Africa

By Champakalata dasi

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SOUTH AFRICA – Durban’s beachfront was a hive of activity this Easter weekend, 6th to 9th April as devotees hosted the 19th annual beachfront Ratha-yatra (Festival of Chariots). The festival which had its humble beginnings in Tongaat, north of Durban in 1980 has now touched all the cultural hubs of South Africa – Chatsworth, Phoenix, Lenasia and Cape Town and has still retained its glorious status on the city of Durban’s Easter events calendar.

Over 250 000 guests attended the festival which has been billed as the largest free cultural event in South Africa. This year’s international guest performers included Russian born Baratha-natyam dancers Sanatani dasi and Shivanjali dasi, Estonian martial arts exponent, Deena Dayal dasa and hatha-yoga practitioners, twin brothers, Vraja-sakha dasa and Lal-krsna dasa from Ukraine. In addition to these star attractions, audiences were treated to breathtaking dramas directed by His Holiness Bhakti Marg Swami. Productions included, “Grandsire Bhisma”, “Krishna Lila” and “Rolling of the dice” an excerpt from the Mahabaratha.

The Silk Road Bhajan band from Kazakhstan which last year had the crowds transcendentally mesmerized had them swaying in kirtans which went on until 10pm every evening. Senior devotees, including Their Holiness’ Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Partha Sarathi dasa Goswami, Indradyumna Swami, Bhakti Brnga Govinda Swami, Kadamba Kanana Swami, Bhakti Vijnana Swami, Jayapataka Swami, Kavicandra Swami, Bhakti Balabh Puri Goswami and Bhakti Visrambara Madhava Swami attended the festival, presented discourses and fielded questions in the “Questions and Answers” marquees. During the initiation ceremony on Sunday, 8th April and throughout all four days, the main cultural marquee was full to its 3000 seating capacity. Despite the overcast weather and late evenings’ slight drizzle the attendance was overwhelming.

Visitors were indeed spoilt for choice as they leisurely strolled across the festival grounds which resembled a tent city with 35 marquees sprawled across the field. These were the venues for various exhibitions; multi-media shows and sales; introduction to japa meditation (108 steps); Govinda’s milkshake bar, restaurant, take-aways, cooking demonstrations; vedic literature; Indian clothing, art, craft and music bazaar, kiddies entertainment and a host of other activities. By far the most striking tent was the Jagannatha mandir, where Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra were ornately decorated and worshipped. These are the original deities that Srila Prabhupada commissioned to come to South Africa in 1977 and this year’s festival celebrated Their 30 years in the country.

As the fragrant smell of incense permeated the atmosphere which was resounding with melodious non-stop bhajans, visitors were given the opportunity to offer worship to the deities and take home with them maha-prasad. The elaborately decorated marquee truly resembled a temple in all its glory.

And for the first time ever there were three chariots at the parade. On Saturday, 7th April, festooned with thousands of flower and fruit garlands, the chariots drawn by over 10 000 blissful devotees, weaved their way from the steps of the City Hall, through Durban’s golden mile parallel to the beach and three hours later arrived at the festival grounds on the North Beach. Mr Logie Naidoo, the Deputy Mayor of Durban, Mr A. Rajbansi, the Minister of Sport and Recreation in KwaZulu-Natal and Mr Kamal Panday, a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Parliament, joined in the procession by sweeping the streets, clearing the way for the chariots which ranged from 10 to 25 metres high. By popular demand, on the last night of the festival Monday (9th April) at 5.30pm the single chariot parade left the festival grounds, proceeding to the Lower Marine Parade and concluded at the Bay of Plenty grounds. There were spectacular aerial fireworks displays on Friday and Monday evenings. And in traditional Hare Krishna style all festival attendees relished free sumptuous prasadam – breyani, dhall, pickle, halava and juice – a hearty meal indeed!

Apart from wide media publicity prior to the start of the festival, which included front page photos in the national Sunday newspaper, SABC radio stations broadcasted updates of the festival every hour on the hour during all its news bulletins over the weekend In addition to that, Lotus FM, the largest “Indian” radio station in South Africa, broadcasted live from the festival ground on Friday and Monday. The event was also recorded by Yo-TV, a teenage magazine programme and “Dharma Moments,” a religious programme for TV broadcast later this month.

This was indeed the most successful Ratha-yatra festival to date as we surpassed all our own expectations. The festival organizers are already contemplating next year’s special 20th anniversary celebrations which coincides with Gaura Purnima!