By Nandini Radha devi dasi
On October 1, Saturday, residents of Victorville, CA got to witness the first ever Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath in their little town. Victorville, located in the Inland Empire desert region of California and having a population of 95,000 welcomed Lord Jagannath to their 10th Annual Spice of Life Multicultural Festival. Spice of Life is a city-wide multi-cultural festival designed to celebrate and embrace the various cultures that exist side by side in the community and features music, dance and food. The inspiration behind this Ratha Yatra festival was the Krishna Valley temple located in Apple Valley, a town adjacent to Victorville. The Krishna Valley temple (KVT) formally opened in November, 2008 and the founding members have a close relationship with ISKCON Los Angeles. This year the city of Victorville was approached to include the Festival of Chariots in their annual festivities and the city joyfully agreed. ISKCON Los Angeles was contacted by KVT to assist in the organization of this wonderful Ratha Yatra and with a great sense of enthusiasm, devotees came forward to render their time and effort. In particular, HG Ratnabhusana Prabhu, the person behind the construction and assembly of the Los Angeles Ratha Yatra carts for the past 20 years provided extensive services for this event by transporting a cart to Apple Valley, assembling it and decorating it beautifully with flowers and bright garlands with the aid of other devotees. The presiding Deities for this event were Ratnabhushana Prabhu’s own personal Deities- Their Lordships Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra. The astonishing fact is that Ratnabhusana Prabhu has done ten Ratha Yatras this year alone and this festival is getting to be extremely popular along the entire western coast! Ratnabhusana Prabhu is making every effort to fulfill everyone’s request so that Lord Jagannath’s mercy can be spread to every nook and corner.
On Saturday morning at 8a.m., a bus carrying 50 devotees from ISKCON Los Angeles left for Victorville with a full entourage of mrdangas, kartals and very lively spirits. The mood was buoyant and blissful. About two hours later, devotees reached Apple Valley where they were welcomed very graciously by the Krishna Valley temple devotees. This temple has beautiful Deities of Sri Sri Radha Krishna besides several others. After paying their respects, devotees ate a sumptuous meal prepared by the KVT team and with surcharged energy embarked into the neighboring town of Victorville. The Festival of Chariots was provided a street location by the city and devotees assembled at the site at 1p.m. Following the arrival of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladev and Subhadra devi amidst loud chanting of the Holy Names, devotees commenced the procession by pulling the ropes of the wonderful chariot. The temperature at this time was close to 102oF since this is a desert area but despite the stifling dry heat, devotees cheerfully chanted and danced along with enormous devotion! As the cart proceeded along the street, several curious on-lookers stopped to witness this historic event in their city and gratefully accepted Lord Jagannath’s mercy in the form of His darsan. The chariot travelled down the street which was lined with vintage cars, public safety personnel and the general public. The sheer colors of the chariot, the melodious chanting of the devotees, the enlivening beating of the mrdangas and the sweet clapping of the kartals- all garnered plenty of attention and souls who got to witness this wonderful pastime of the Lord surely received blessings, even without their knowledge. The chanting and dancing continued for about two hours until 3p.m. following which the devotees were treated to more prasad in the form of cool water, fresh fruits and mouth-watering savories. Finally at about 3.30p.m. although soaking in sweat yet highly satisfied and feeling a great sense of contentment, the devotees boarded their bus back to Los Angeles. The KVT devotees expressed their heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the assistance provided by ISKCON Los Angeles and vowed to make this an annual event in their city. By the mercy of Lord Jagannath, a little desert town got to taste the cooling waters of the oasis which took shape in the form of this divine Festival of Chariots. Victorville has indeed been sanctified by the dust emanating from the rolling wheels of Lord Jagannath’s chariot. All glories to the Lord of the Universe!