By Mukunda das
On 13th July we celebrated our fourth Rathya Yatra in Ujjain.
The day started with Mangal arati in the presence of over a hundred college students who had come from various cities of the state plus all the congregational devotees in Ujjain. After the rousing kirtan a message was read out from our beloved Guru Maharaj who regretted not being able to attend this year’s function but encouraged all of us to work in a united manner and make the Rathya yatra a grand success.
Stimulated by Guru Maharaj’s encouragement and meticulous planning by the Rathya yatra team led by H.G.Laxminath das it turned to be a very wonderful ceremony.
The Rath which is mounted on a truck chassis was renovated and a fresh coat of paint was applied and taken to Budbaria the busy business district of Ujjain from where the journey would commence.
Lord Jaganath, Lord Baladev and Mother Subhadra arrived and were ceremoniously enthroned on the chariot with traditional arati and other traditional puja which were performed by the pujaris.
Several dignitaries including the inspector general of police plus Sadhus of the Ujjain dham presided over the opening ceremony.
After offering of arati by the dignitaries they broke the auspicious coconut and then swept the ground with the traditional golden broom. Then the matagi’s on one side and the Prabhu’s held on to the sacred rope and started pulling the wonderfully decorated Rath.
Slowly Their Lordships started to majestically move down the narrow streets of the city with the chanting of the holy name. Hundreds of onlookers on both sides of the road joined the festivities showering flower petals at several points along the road. Local people distributed cold water, fruit juice and sweets to the onlookers. Several times along the route bhog was offered to Lord Jaganath and was then freely distributed among the bystanders.
We had an elephant leading the procession with one devotee carrying Srila Prabhupada seated on top and two camels and five horses followed. Four very nicely decorated bullock carts carried attractively dressed little children.
Also a band party played various tunes of the mahamantra plus devotees constantly danced to the kirtan sung by several devotees.
The sun played hide and seek with the clouds but it did not rain thus devotees thoroughly enjoyed the seven kilometer trek.
Around 6.30pm Their Lordship finally arrived at the temple where the collector of the district offered arati and finally the devotees fondly carried the deities to the specially prepared alter where they will reside for the next eight days.
All the devotees were then treated to a sumptuous and delicious feast arranged by H.G.Radhavallav das and attended by nearly three thousand participants.
Please visit the under mentioned link for pictures of the memorable function.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mukunda.bcs/RATHYAYATRA2010UJJAIN?authkey=Gv1sRgCKagrImbz7mSdA#
Mukunda das
Ujjain