Photo Courtesy: Prashanta Seal
Ratha Yatra or Ratha Jatra or the annual Chariot Festival is a colourful Hindu festival in which lakhs of devotees take active part. The festival venerates the deities Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and younger sister Subhadra. A massive procession is taken out in the festival which is celebrated in a grand scale at Puri in Odisha. Puri’s Rath Yatra is the oldest of all Rath Yatras in the world and it finds mention in the Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita. The lavishly adorned chariots in close resemblance with that of the structures of temples are pulled through the streets.
Devotees from every corner of the country carry an earnest desire to touch and pull the Lords’ chariot as this is considered very auspicious and propitious. The huge processions accompanying the chariots play devotional songs with drums, tambourines and trumpets. Children line up the streets through which the chariots pass and add to the mass chorus. In Silchar, a number of such Raths are taken out in procession. The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show, yet with a deep sense of solemnity, sublimity, piousness and devotion across Barak Valley. A large number of devotees are seen hitting the streets to accompany the holy chariots. They brave the sultry weather and rejoice the festival.
Rath Yatra is celebrated in devotion of Lord Jagannath, who is one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. He is brought out along with His elder brother and sister. The Lord takes rest for a week and then goes back to His temple. During this stay, devotees shower their offerings. The festival begins when Lord Jagannath leaves His temple. The Bishnupriya Manipuris living in the metro cities of India participate and enjoy the festival to the fullest. However, they often make Raths of their village with the help of wood, bamboo and clothes. They use wooden wheels.
Photo Courtesy: WikiMedia
Devotees from every corner of the country carry an earnest desire to touch and pull the Lords’ chariot as this is considered very auspicious and propitious. The huge processions accompanying the chariots play devotional songs with drums, tambourines and trumpets. Children line up the streets through which the chariots pass and add to the mass chorus. In Silchar, a number of such Raths are taken out in procession. The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show, yet with a deep sense of solemnity, sublimity, piousness and devotion across Barak Valley. A large number of devotees are seen hitting the streets to accompany the holy chariots. They brave the sultry weather and rejoice the festival.
Rath Yatra is celebrated in devotion of Lord Jagannath, who is one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. He is brought out along with His elder brother and sister. The Lord takes rest for a week and then goes back to His temple. During this stay, devotees shower their offerings. The festival begins when Lord Jagannath leaves His temple. The Bishnupriya Manipuris living in the metro cities of India participate and enjoy the festival to the fullest. However, they often make Raths of their village with the help of wood, bamboo and clothes. They use wooden wheels.
The Bishnupriya Manipuris of Bhagatpur in Silchar love to remain rooted to their cultural and spiritual roots. The day`s show stealer is always the ‘Mridanga Chalan’. Sankirtana is also performed as part of this festival. Both groups of men and women perform Sankirtana in a circle. They sing songs with the rhythm of the Pung. A Pung is a Mridanga used by the Manipuris. The festival is sacred to the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. Another Rath which deserves special mention is that which is taken from Radha Madhab Akhra at Bilpar in Silchar. The chariot is the second largest in Assam.
Photo courtesy: Partha Seal
It is designed with fine, artistic and skillful hands. Beautiful and spectacular chariots with the deities of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are brought out from the Radha Madhab Akhra and the Bishnupriya Manipuri Temple of Bhagatpur in Silchar. All the beautiful chariots have the impression of serenity, sanctity, piousness and purity. The magnificence of the chariots overwhelm the onlookers as they look in awestruck wonder. A number of NGOs are seen distributing water for the people who come out on the streets to enjoy the Festival of Chariots. Policemen are seen in every nook and corner of the town to ward off any unwarranted incident.
Various beliefs and faiths are associated with this Rath Yatra. On a lighter vein, many people come out to feel the ambience of the day filled with festive mood. The chariots with the deities crisscross the streets of the town which draw huge crowds around them. It is a colourful chariot–festival that has all the semblance of serenity and sanctity. After a week, the chariots again return to their sanctorum. Rath Yatra is celebrated in more than 108 cities of the world.
