Hilarious Rathayatra invitation in Spiritually Diverse Ojai (California)!
Diverse Ojai Valley: Ojai is a town with a very diverse spiritual venue. You can find whatever one wants here: atheism, experimentism (science), agnosticism, and a smorgasbord of every flavor of theology one could ask for: Naturalist, intellectualist, sentimentalist, physicist, socialist, neo-advaitist, voidist, impersonalist, partyist, etc. We got tree huggers, star gazers, moon blessers, psychics, hope chasers, light mergers, pot smokers, bliss babies, chakra healers, gong bangers, harmonic balancers, celebrity yogis, candle watchers, kite flyers, evangelists, street painters, noise fighters, bird savers, animal patters and so on. This is pretty typical in a world which now offers more varieties of yoga than Veda Vyasa could have ever imagined! (Gun yoga, chocolate yoga, dog yoga, bootie yoga, laughing yoga, wine yoga etc.)
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HG Mayesvara Das: Join Us for Dancing, Chanting, Feasting!
Ojai Independence Day Parade/Picnic/Festival
July 4th happens to be the actual day the original festival of chariots or rathayatra in Jagannath Puri is celebrated so it is auspicious that we will be joining in the Independence Day Parade in downtown Ojai with our Rath Cart on that same day! Usually, if a person wishes to get the darshan (audience) of the Lord, they must physically go to the temple but the beauty of Rathayatra is Lord Jagannatha goes into the public on His rolling temple so everyone can see his transcendental form.
Rathayatra is the Sanskrit term for “Festival of the Chariots” (Ratha/Chariot) Yatra/Festival ). It is a very large sacred event held for a week at the city of “Jagannatha Puri” in the state of Orissa/ India every summer. It draws millions of dedicated devotees making it one of the largest single religious events in the world. There is a lot of history and pageantry involved in this vibrant festival. When the British first observed the magnitude of the gathering they were compelled to inquire: “What is this?” The local people responded with the name of the principal deity who rides on the lead chariot: “Jagannatha! Sri Jagannatha!” The British never really understood what they were observing, but they did appreciate the throngs of thousands, the huge 18 wheeled parade floats, and the overall “Unstoppable” nature of the Chariot festival and that is how the word Juggernaut came into the English languate! For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagannatha
Diverse Ojai Valley
Ojai is a town with a very diverse spiritual venue. You can find whatever one wants here: atheism, experimentism (science), agnosticism, and a smorgasbord of every flavor of theology one could ask for: Naturalist, intellectualist, sentimentalist, physicist, socialist, neo-advaitist, voidist, impersonalist, partyist, etc. We got tree huggers, star gazers, moon blessers, psychics, hope chasers, light mergers, pot smokers, bliss babies, chakra healers, gong bangers, harmonic balancers, celebrity yogis, candle watchers, kite flyers, evangelists, street painters, noise fighters, bird savers, animal patters and so on. This is pretty typical in a world which now offers more varieties of yoga than Veda Vyasa could have ever imagined! (Gun yoga, chocolate yoga, dog yoga, bootie yoga, laughing yoga, wine yoga etc.)
Of course, the ageless wisdom of Krishna is also here and on July 4th He will manifest His appearance as Lord Jagannatha accompanied by his Divine siblings’, sister Subhadra and brother Balaram. They will ride down main street on their glorious chariot and transcendentally invite all the citizens to celebrate at the end with a free picnic style vegetarian meal at the local Sarazotti Park!
This is an invitation to all regional transcendentalists to experience an opportunity in Ojai, to have an awakening, an encounter, a convergence, a focusing or a taste of ecstasy, as an embrace with destiny in an unlimited way! But you have to show up or you will miss this annual opportunity to welcome the sun, feel the sensations, dance in the six directions, live in the moment, experience the now and merge with the love in your heart. Come and blissfully join us the singing, dancing and feasting! We will be chanting the king of mantras, the perfection of prayers, the yuga dharma, maha mantra recommended for this age, all for the pleasure of the Lord of The Universe right down main street! Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!
The parade begins at 10am, so allow ample time to get to Ojai and find a place to park which gets more difficult as the starting time of the parade gets closer. After the parade we have a wonderful picnic in the park where everyone gets fed sumptuous Jagannatha Prasadam. Although we can’t offer bedding to those who might like to come to Ojai the day before, we certainly can offer a safe place to park your vehicle, bathing facilities and dinner the night before if you wish to come early. Just call so we can do our best to accommodate your plans.
Cultural Authenticity:
The design of the July 4th parade float being presented by the American Vedic Association is consistent with the visual tradition of the annual RATHAYATRA festival held in Jagannatha Puri, Orissa, India.
Photos & Engineering Drawings Available for Review:
All the Rolling Chariot Temples, (Rath Carts) Designed by William Roberts are available for critique by the curious. The Engineering drawings for the much larger aluminum carts in Los Angeles are also posted here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91825&id=708378822