Jamshedpur Rath Yatra held after two years, devotees pull grand chariots of Lord Jagannath

Jamshedpur, July 1: After a gap of two years due to the pandemic, hundreds of people belonging to various communities took part in the “rath yatra” of Lord Jagannath that was held here on Friday.

People of all ages joined hands in pulling the chariot. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness ( ISKON) organised the ‘Rath Yatra’  from Ram Mandiram in Bistupur to Sakchi Agrasen Bhawan.   Bhajans, kirtans, and kolatam dance were performed all along the procession.

Notably,  the chariot festival has been a low-key affair in Steel City for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its 15th year, ISKON, with the help of various socio-religious outfits, organised one of the biggest Rath Yatras in Jamshedpur.

The procession, passed via Sakchi Highway Road and Old Court before culminating at Dhalbhum Club in Sakchi, covering a distance of over 6km. Devotees will pull the chariot, though they are engine-driven.

Rath Yatra was also celebrated at Beldih Naga Temple, one of the oldest temples in the city, Gandhi Ashram in Baradwari and Sonari Geeta Bhavan. At the Naga temple in Beldih, the chariot from the temple leaves for ‘Mausi Badi’ in the nearby Tulsi Mandir for a week.

 “For us, it is the most important event of the year. Every year, the yatra is taken out with pomp and show. Moreover, we also believe that the human body itself is the chariot of the almighty and our senses are the horses that pull the chariot. And the rath yatra symbolises taking our body in the right direction, “said Bhagwan Das, priest of the mandir.

 The rath yatra began in the evening and it took more than two hours for it to reach its destination. Children, dressed as Sri Krishna, Balarama, and other mythological characters who participated in the procession, were the cynosure of all eyes.

The Rath Yatra Committee of Jugsalai organised a grand ‘rath yatra’ during which Lord Jagannath was worshipped alongside his elder brother Bala-Rama and his sister Subhadra, continuing a more than seven-decade-long tradition.

 “The event is inspired by the Puri Jagannath Yatra. Our forefathers started it more than seven decades ago. Several other committees too take out yatras, but we have maintained the tradition with full devotion,” noted Pradeep Gupta, a member of the committee.

It may be mentioned that, similar to the Rath Yatra Committee at Puri, the Rath Yatra Committee at Jugsalai has been taking out the march for the last seven decades. Such is the popularity of yatra that a place in Jugsalai has been named ‘rath gali’ after it.

On the other hand, like every year, the city-based Rath Yatra Festival Committee took out rath yatra from Baridih. In this yatra too, people in large numbers participated in seeking the blessings.

Such was the reverence among the devotees that they had made a beeline to witness the yatra.

Several devotees were present on the temple premises today itself to take part in the journey.