Rain welcomes rath yatra devotees in capital

Vijay Deo Jha Ranchi Thursday, June 25, 2009

Thousands of devotees participated in the Jagannathpur Rath Yatra and pulled the chariot of the divine trio of Lord Jagannath and his brother Balaram and sister Subhadra from the Main Temple to Mausibari on Wednesday afternoon. It is a symbolic travel to their aunt’s house.

Hundreds of devotees clad in dhoti took part in elaborate rituals and sat on the front of 30-feet-tall chariot and chanted mantras from Vishnulakshnacharna to invoke the divine power. As the main priest announced the auspicious moment to roll the chariot of Lord; thousands of devotees vied with each other to pull the rath to get the blessings of the divine.

The procession continued for the next one hour marked by the showering of petals of flowers, the booming drumbeats, and, off course; the thunder shower which drenched the devotees with rain.“Listen devotees; God has listened to our prayer and it is raining now like every year,” the main priest of the temple announced while sitting on the chariot. The moment it started raining, hydra like thousands of hands were raised towards the sky each acclaiming the miracle of God.

“As far as my frail memory is concerned this festival never missed spell of rain. Everybody was apprehensive this time but I always believed that God will bless us with rain,” Sumintra Devi a 95 year old devotee said.

People from different parts of the State had poured in to mark the religious occasion and the sprawling ground adjacent to the main temple in Dhurwa was dotted with the devotees. If Mundas were carrying flags; one could not miss Oraons carrying cymbals in their hand.

There was no division of caste and community and age. All became a part of that journey of the great divine. If Akthar Jamal did not know what priests were chanting in chaste Sanskrit he had an easy mantra to add into this: Jai Ho.

The fair ground sported a festive air with local tribals swaying to the beats of folk songs, accompanied by traditional instruments like the flute, mandar and the nagara. It turned into a sea of colourful dresses and umbrellas by afternoon.

The actual juggernaut—pulling the lord’s chariot by human hands—was quite colourful and full of piousness. Young, old and even children did not want to miss an occasion to join this privy league of devotees who were pulling the chariot of the gods to their aunt’s house.

Initially it seemed God refused to move. The Chariot remained in standstill for a couple of minutes despite devotees using their muscle power in attempting to drag it forward. “God is just testing our patience and devotion,” the priest Jagdish Mohanti announced. It was enough to fill the devotees with religious verve: Bhagwan Jagannath ki jai. The chariot rolled out slowly with a mild creak.

It is not the rath yatra of Puri with all its pomp and show and mysticism that attracts the foreigners. Helped by a guide Philip Kalra, Elizabeth Smith and Mirium, all of them British nationals; were the curious spectators trying to capture each Kodak moment. “I have seen rath festival of Puri also but here it is superb,” Kalra said.

As the rath reached Mausiwari priests performed rituals for half an hour. But somewhere religiosity took a back seat. If old women jostled to get darshnam of the Lord, for some of the young ladies of the same family it was a picnic moment. Getting a design of mehendi on their hand and some bargained for trinkets and wares from the hundreds of stalls that had been set up.Innocent wide-eyed children rushed for the joyrides but youngsters thronged at cold drink stalls in an attempt to beat the heat. A couple of others had a good cheer with their friends with glasses of rice beer.