By Basu Ghosh Das
Home Base: ISKCON Baroda
Dear Readers,
Namonamaha. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
On Friday, July 4, 2008, upon which fell the auspicious day of “aashaadh shukla dvitiya” (the second day of the fortnight of the waxing moon in the month of “aashaadh”), known in Gujarati as “aashaadi bij”, ISKCON Baroda observed it’s 27th annual Sri Jagannath Rathayatra Mahotsav, in an exceedingly grand manner!
The Mayor of Baroda, Sri Balkrishna Shukla, inaugurated the Rathayatra by sweeping the road infront of the Rath, located opposite of the Baroda Railway Station, as per local traditions, and reflecting the annual role of the Raajaa (king) of Puri (known as the “Gajapati” — Lord of Elephants) at the Puri Rathayatra.
Thousands of citizens lined the roads to have “darshan” of Their Lordships, Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadradevi on the exquisitely decorated Rath!
More than 12 tons of “halava” (“shiro” in Gujarati) prasad was distributed to the public from trucks moving behind the Rath.
Hundreds of devotees pulled the Rath throughout the almost 8 kilometer route of the Rathayatra.
ISKCON India leaders HH Bhakti Vikas Swami, Bhaktarupa Prabhu, Braja Hari Prabhu (Juhu, Bombay), Basu Ghosh Das, Bhaktivinode Das (Chandigarh/Kanpur), Murli Manohar Das (Vijayawada), Surapati Das (Allahabad) and Pancharatna Das (Jaipur) were in attendence. Devotees from Vallabh Vidyangar, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Vrindavan, and other places attended the festival and throughout the Rathayatra route engaged in ecstatic harinam sankirtan.
Various political and social leaders of Baroda attended the inauguration of the Rathayatra, and before that had darshan of Lord Jagannath at the ISKCON temple in the morning.
Almost 400 pictures of the festival, including some local newspaper clippings have been posted on the internet for public viewing:
http://picasaweb.google.com/basughoshdas1
Jaya Jagannath!
Hoping this meets you all well.
Yours in the service of the Lord of the Universe — Jagannath,
Basu Ghosh Das President – ISKCON Baroda