By Basu Ghosh Das
(See pictures of the Rathayatra festival & accompanying scanned newspaper reports and photos in English and Tamil at the following internet URL):
http://picasaweb.google.com/basughoshdas1/ISKCONCoimbatore18thAnnualJagannat hRathayatraFestival#
On Saturday, January 16, 2010, ISKCON Coimbatore organized its 18th annual Sri Jagannath Rathayatra festival, which passes through the streets of the old part of Coimbatore city.
Coimbatore, located some five hundred kilometers West of Chennai (formerly known as “Madras”) is the second largest city in the Tamil Nadu state in South India. At present the population of Coimbatore, also known as “Kovai”, is about two million (twenty lakhs).
Lord Jagannath’s Rath at Coimbatore with extended canopy stands fourty two feet high!
Before the beginning of Rathayatra, there was a gathering at the old Venugopal Swami temple, on Salaivan Street in downtown Coimbatore. Upon the arrival at the Mandapam (stage erected on the side of the temple of Venugopal Swami) of Lord Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadradevi and the Murti of Srila Prabhupada, Their Lordships were greeted by traditional “purna kumbha” with veda mantras, and a large contingent of lady devotees standing on either side of the entrance area with “dipas” (traditional ghee wick lamps) and flowers that they offered to Their Lordships.
Special Guest Sri A. M. Rajagopalan, the editor of the well known Tamil Astrological magazine, “Kumudam Jyotidam”, who came from Chennai to attend the Rathayatra (he is 86 years old) addressed the gathering and highly praised of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada.
The Deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadradevi were then carried about a furlong away to the site of the start of the Rathayatra, well known locally as “Thermutti”. The Mayor of Coimbatore, Sri R. Venkatachalam, inaugurated the procession by sweeping the road in front of the Rath with a broom with a golden handle, as is the ancient tradition at Jagannath Puri, where the Gajapati Maharaj (the King of Puri) performs the same ritual, signifying his subservience to the Lord.
A large contingent of Police was posted to protect the Rathayatra and to make sure there was no untoward incident, throughout the route of the procession.
The Rathayatra started from Thermutti, near the Coimbatore town hall. The procession passed through “Open Car Street”, Vaishyal Street, Karape Gounder Street, and back to Thermutti. The route covers approximately three kilometers .
Throughout the procession, devotees amongst the general public approached Lord Jagannath’s Rath with offerings of fruits, sweets and coconuts. The large number of assembled ISKCON devotees performed continuous harinam sankirtan throughout the procession. Additionally, various groups of Srivaishnava devotees also joined the procession and performed harinam sankirtan throughout.
Also there were traditional “nadaswaram” musicians playing nadaswarams and the thavil (drums) throughout the procession.
Behind Lord Jagannath’s Rath there was continuous distribution of “pulihodarai” (tamarind rice) prasad in cups from a truck, to the masses who were witnessing the passing of the Rathayatra throughout the Rathayatra route.
Senior ISKCON devotees, H. H. Bhanu Swami, GBC for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, H. H. Bhakti Vinoda Swami, Zonal Secertary for parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and Temple President of ISKCON Coimbatore, Basu Ghosh Das, Temple President of ISKCON Baroda (Gujarat) Sumitra Krishna Das, Temple President of ISKCON Chennai, Jagat Sakshi Das, ISKCON Trivandrum (Kerala) temple President, Vanamali Gopal Das, General Manager of ISKCON Kumbhakonam, Vibhav Krishna Das, Narahari Das, and Sudhir Chaitanya Das, all leaders of the ISKCON Jagannath Mandir at Bangalore, were present.
Also, many ISKCON devotees and ISKCON congregational devotees from around Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka attended the Rathayatra. Devotees from Madurai, Salem, Kumbhakonam, Tiruchi, Chennai, Bangalore, and various places in Kerala participated in the Rathayatra.
In the evening H. H. Bhanu Swami and Basu Ghosh Das addressed the assembled devotees who gathered at the Padmavati Cultural Center on the Avinashi Road for satsanga and prasadam. Sumptuous dinner prasadam was distributed there to one and all.
Articles and pictures of the Rathayatra appeared in the two English and four Tamil daily newspapers published from Coimbatore.