WHAT IS THE FESTIVAL OF CHARIOTS?

WHAT IS THE FESTIVAL OF CHARIOTS?

Ratha-yatra, or the Festival of Chariots, is a joyous event celebrated for thousands of years in the Indian holy city of Jagannatha Puri, and more recently by Hare Krishna devotees in cities around the world. Another name for Krishna, Jagannatha refers to the ecstatic form of the Lord with large eyes and rugged features who is carried on a gigantic chariot during this festival (and worshiped in an ancient temple at the center of Jagannath Puri.)

UNUSUAL FORM OF THE DEITIES
As the story goes, Lord Krishna once overheard a conversation about how His dearest devotees, the cowherd maidens of Vrindavana, were lamenting in His absence. When He heard these accounts of overwhelming love in separation, the Lord’s hair began to stand on end, His eyes opened wide and filled with tears, and His arms and legs contracted as He went into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Seeing Lord Krishna in this condition, His elder brother, Balarama (Baladeva), also began to feel ecstatic symptoms and displayed similar features. When Their sister, Subhadra, arrived at the scene, she too became consumed with ecstatic joy. Thus the sublime deity forms of Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva represent this sweet pastime.
The festival of Ratha-yatra represents Lord Jagannatha’s longing to reunite with His dear devotees in Vrindavana, foremost among them, Srimati Radharani.

The Internal Meaning of the Ratha-Yatra Festival

The meaning of the Ratha-Yatra parade is steeped in religious sentiment. The form that Lord Krishna takes as Jagannatha is the manifestation of His ecstasy that He feels when He leaves the opulence of His palaces in Dwaraka, represented by the Puri temple, to return to the town of Vrindavan and the simple and pure spontaneous love the residents there have for Him. Thus, there is no difference between Lord Krishna and Lord Jagannatha. So in the mood of separation from His loving devotees, Jagannatha mounts His chariot and returns to Vrindavan, which is symbolically represented by the Gundicha temple. In this way, the esoteric meaning of the Ratha-Yatra parade is that we pull the Lord back into our hearts and rekindle the loving relationship we have with Him. Many great poems and songs, such as Jagannatha-astakam, have been composed describing the event and the highly ecstatic devotional mood one can enter while participating. Many verses are also written in the Caitanya-caritamrita that describe the pastimes Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had during these Ratha-Yatra festivals 500 years ago.
To explain the internal meaning of Ratha-Yatra further, Lord Jagannatha is the embodiment of Lord Krishna's love for Srimate Radharani. While Lord Krishna was living in Dwaraka, he felt great separation from Radharani and the residents of Vrindavana. On the day of one solar eclipse, He traveled to Kuruksetra with His brother Balarama and His sister Subhadra on His chariot. There He met Srimate Radharani and other residents of Vrindavana, all of which wanted to take the Lord back to Vrindavana. While traveling and thinking of this meeting, He entered mahabhava, the highest sentiments of loving exchange. In that state, His eyes dilated like fully bloomed lotuses, and His hands and legs retreated into His body. In this way, the form of Lord Jagannatha is called radha-viraha-vidhura, the separation from Radharani, and also mahabhava-prakasha, the manifestation of mahabhava for Radharani. Lord Caitanya was the embodiment of Srimate Radharani's love for Lord Krishna. So Lord Caitanya taking Lord Jagannatha from the main temple to the Gundicha corresponds to Srimate Radharani's wanting to take Lord Krishna from Dwaraka back to Vrindavana, the place of spontaneous and ecstatic love of God.

HISTORY OF RATHA-YATRA IN KWAZULU-NATAL

HISTORY OF RATHA-YATRA IN KWAZULU-NATAL

Prior to 1980, outside of India, little was known of Ratha-yatra (Festival of Chariots).  Then with the introduction of the Krishna consciousness movement in the West by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada came the practices, traditions and festivals that are so intrinsically associated with devotional service and worship of Lord Krishna.  The supremacy and various forms of Krishna were made known for the whole world to behold and the centuries old festival of chariots became a familiar sight throughout major cities all over the world.

Likewise when Srila Prabhupada visited Durban, South Africa in 1975 he expressed two desires for this city viz. that the ancient Festival of Chariots take place on Durban’s Beachfront and that a beautiful temple be built in the heart of Chatsworth.

Thirty years on, both these desires have been realized local.  On Sunday, 9^th December 1980 the fast expanding nama hatta circle of congregation devotees were filled with excitement as the Ratha-yatra festival was to make its debut in Tongaat on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.  Busses ferried devotees from over 30 nama hattas to the starting point at Outspan gounds in Tongaat.   Two chariots draped with thousands of marigold garlands (one carrying Lord Jagannath and the other Their Lordships Baladeva and Subhadra) were tugged along by the jubilant devotees down the main road through the centre of Tongaat leading to the Buffelsdale stadium.  Despite the heavy downpour of rain, drenched and dried, devotees enthusiastically chanted, danced and drew the two chariots.  At the stadium, a crowd of over 10 000 onlookers had gathered to participate in the festivities which included a spiritual discourse, baratha natyam dances and a drama mimed to a pre-recorded script in Los Angeles, USA.  After a tumultuous kirtan, the festival concluded with the distribution of prasadam which had been prepared by the Tongaat nama hatta devotees.

Inspired by the success of the Tongaat Ratha-yatra and given the fact that the temple site for Chatsworth was already secured, devotees then embarked on a Ratha-yatra festival in Chatsworth with three chariots that towered above the tallest buildings in Chatsworth.  The parade which was led by ISKCON’s international leaders departed from the temple site and flowed through the streets of Unit 3 until it reached the Unit 3B Soccer Stadium where the festivities continued.  Banners and flags boasting the participation of the dozens of nama hattas were the order of the day.

For a few years thereafter the Ratha-yatra festival faded into the shadows of ISKCON’s list of priorities, topmost of which, was the construction of the magnificent Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple of Understanding, which was completed in 1985.

In 1988 with an American born Swami (Indradyumna Swami) at the helm of ISKCON’s management in Chatsworth, Ratha-yatra made a resounding comeback.  This time the festival committee carefully chartered out a plan to ensure that the festival drew both local and tourist attention as well as that it would entrench itself as a major city event that would draw the support of local government, business sector and community so that it would be embraced as an annual event. 

The festival drew much media attention and accordingly the public attendance at the two day festival that was staged at the amphitheatre on Durban’s North Beach over the peak Christmas period was overwhelming.  Visitors were in awe at the sight of the 10 metre long, 5metre wide flower bedecked chariot with a 15 metre high multicoloured canopy dome(which was hydraulically propelled), and artistically painted peacocks that graced the four gigantic wheels which were attached to a chassis that

The festival committee’s attention to detail coupled with the commissioning of the best in local and international cultural performers to provide top class entertainment at the festival as well as the free breyani meals that were distributed became the magic success formula for the ensuing years’ festivals.   

Over the years the festival has expanded from a two day festival to a four day festival.  Also, due to the large support that the festival has gained (almost 200 000 people attend) it has been compelled over the years to move from the Amphitheatre site to the lawns of the Bay of Plenty and then to much larger grounds (the former Military Museum site).  Now, alongside the 3000 seater marquee which is the venue for cultural performers, are dozens of other tents housing gift shops, restaurants, make-shift temple, book stalls, multi-media exhibitions, cow-protection arena, meditation demonstrations, and a host of other activities.

Various heads of State, government ministers, consular and city mayors and officials, including Former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, State President Thabo Mbeki, Dr Mongosothu Buthulezi and Amichand Rajbansi have graced the festival with their presence and support. 

The initial cost of hosting the festival has likewise grown from the original R20 000,00 to an astronomical R2,5 million.  Each year the committee which comprises of stalwart devotees (Swarup Damodara dasa, Vibhu Caitanya dasa, Ramvijay dasa, Balaram dasa, Champakalata dasi, Umesh Prakash and Upendra Ramlakan) supported by hundreds of devotees from the congregation endeavour to take the festival to greater heights by inviting international spiritual leaders of the Society, commissioning internationally renowned musicians, rolling out more exciting activities and booths… In the past 23 years the festival has played hosts to international artistes such as the Bhaktivedanta Players from London, Gauranga Powered Band from Scotland, musicians from Poland, the Silk Road Bhajan Band from Kazakhstan, Little Go-Kool from Nairobi, Deva Deva performers from Estonia, martial arts and Hatha yoga experts from Eastern Europe, Dr Vinod Hasal from India and locally famous artistes such as Kumari Ambigay, the Nateshwar dancers, Mercy Pakela, Yogan Khandoo, Jay Pather, Suryalanga dancers and Amajika Youth. 

                By the vision and mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the dedication of his disciples and grand-disciples, Ratha-yatra has become a reality in South Africa and has drawn thousands of  people, wellwishers and the curious alike, to have darshan of the beautiful beaming smiles of the Lord of the Universe and start their journey back to the spiritual world, where every word is a song, every step is a dance and there is a festival every day – just like our Ratha-yatra festival!

APPEARANCE OF LORD JAGANNATHA

APPEARANCE OF LORD JAGANNATHA

The significance of Jagannatha Puri and the story of how the Deities first appeared goes back many hundreds of years to the time of King Indradyumna, who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. It is related that one time in his court the King heard from a devotee about an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, named Nila-madhava. (Nila-madhava is the Deity form of Lord Vishnu.) The King very much wanted to see this form of the Supreme and sent many Brahmanas to search for Nila-madhava. All came back unsuccessful except for Vidyapati, who did not come back at all. He had wandered to a distant town which was populated by a tribe of people known as Shabaras of non-Aryan heritage. He had stayed in the house of Visvasu, and later, at Visvasu's request, married his daughter, Lalita.
After some time Vidyapati noticed that Visvasu would leave the house every night and return at noon the next day. Vidyapati asked his wife about this. Though her father had ordered her not to tell anyone, she told Vidyapati that Visvasu would go in secret to worship Nila-madhava. After repeated requests, Vidyapati finally got permission to go see Nila-madhava, only if he went blindfolded. But Vidyapati's wife had bound some mustard seeds in his cloth so that a trail could be left to follow later. When they reached the shrine, Vidyapati saw the Deity Nila-madhava after the Shabara took off the blindfold, and he felt great ecstasy.
The story continues to relate that while Visvasu was out collecting items for worship, Vidyapati saw a bird fall into the nearby lake and drown. The soul of the bird suddenly took a spiritual form and ascended back to the spiritual world. Vidyapati wanted to do the same and climbed the tree to jump in the lake. Then a voice from the sky declared that before he jumped he should tell Indradyumna that he had found Nila-madhava.
When Visvasu returned to worship the Deity, Nila-madhava spoke and said that He had accepted the simple worship from him for so many days, but now He wanted to accept the opulent worship that would be offered by King Indradyumna. When Vidyapati went back to tell the King, Indradyumna immediately went to find Nila-madhava but could not locate Him. So the King arrested Visvasu, but a voice told him to release the Shabara and that he should build a temple on top of Nila Hill where the King would see the Lord as Daru-brahman, the wooden manifestation of the Absolute.
After great endeavor, King Indradyumna built the temple at Sri Kshetra, now known as Jagannatha Puri, and later prayed to Lord Brahma to consecrate it. However, Lord Brahma said that it was not within his power to consecrate the temple since Sri Kshetra is manifested by the Supreme's own internal potency and is where the Lord manifests Himself. So Brahma simply put a flag on top of the temple and blessed it, saying that anyone who from a distance saw the flag and offered obeisances would easily be liberated from the material world. Nonetheless, after much waiting the King became anxious since Nila-madhava had not manifested Himself. Thinking his life was useless, the King decided he should end his life by fasting. But in a dream the Lord said that He would appear floating in from the sea in His form as Daru-brahman.
The King went to the shore and found a huge piece of wood that had the markings of a conch, disc, club, and lotus. This was Daru-brahman. But try as they might, the men could not budge the wood. In a dream the Lord spoke to the King and instructed him to get Visvasu and put a golden chariot in front of Daru-brahman. After doing this and forming a kirtana party to chant the holy names, and praying for Daru-brahman to mount the chariot, Daru-brahman was easily moved. Lord Brahma performed a sacrifice where the present temple now stands and installed a Deity of Lord Narasimhadeva, the Deity that is now on the western side of the temple.
From the wooden Daru-brahman, the King requested many expert carvers to carve the form of the Deity, but none could do so for their chisels immediately broke when they touched the wood. Finally the architect of the demigods, Visvakarma, (some say the Lord Himself) arrived as an old artist, Ananta Maharana, and promised that he would carve the Deity form of the Lord inside the temple in three weeks if the King would allow him to work behind closed doors. But after 14 days the King became very anxious because he could no longer hear the sounds of the carving. Finally he could stand it no more. On the advice of the queen he personally opened the doors of the temple to see what was happening. Then he saw the forms of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama, and Lady Subhadra. But because the King had opened the doors sooner than he was supposed to, the Deities were not completed; Their feet and hands had not yet been carved. Thus, the Supreme manifested Himself in this form.
The King felt he had committed a great offense for having opened the doors before the allotted three weeks had passed, so he decided to end his life. But in a dream Lord Jagannatha told the King that though he had broken his promise, this was just a part of the Supreme's pastimes to display this particular form. The King was told that this form, even though it appeared to be incomplete, was actually the form of the Lord that was meant to be worshiped in this age of Kali-yuga. Occasionally the King could decorate the Deity with golden hands and feet. Yet those devotees filled with love would always see the form of Lord Jagannatha as the threefold bending form of Syamasundara, Krishna, holding a flute. Thus, the Supreme appeared in this form so that people could approach and see Him, especially as He rides through town on the huge carts during the Ratha-Yatra festival.

APPEARANCE OF LORD JAGANNATHA

APPEARANCE OF LORD JAGANNATHA

The significance of Jagannatha Puri and the story of how the Deities first appeared goes back many hundreds of years to the time of King Indradyumna, who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. It is related that one time in his court the King heard from a devotee about an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, named Nila-madhava. (Nila-madhava is the Deity form of Lord Vishnu.) The King very much wanted to see this form of the Supreme and sent many Brahmanas to search for Nila-madhava. All came back unsuccessful except for Vidyapati, who did not come back at all. He had wandered to a distant town which was populated by a tribe of people known as Shabaras of non-Aryan heritage. He had stayed in the house of Visvasu, and later, at Visvasu's request, married his daughter, Lalita.
After some time Vidyapati noticed that Visvasu would leave the house every night and return at noon the next day. Vidyapati asked his wife about this. Though her father had ordered her not to tell anyone, she told Vidyapati that Visvasu would go in secret to worship Nila-madhava. After repeated requests, Vidyapati finally got permission to go see Nila-madhava, only if he went blindfolded. But Vidyapati's wife had bound some mustard seeds in his cloth so that a trail could be left to follow later. When they reached the shrine, Vidyapati saw the Deity Nila-madhava after the Shabara took off the blindfold, and he felt great ecstasy.
The story continues to relate that while Visvasu was out collecting items for worship, Vidyapati saw a bird fall into the nearby lake and drown. The soul of the bird suddenly took a spiritual form and ascended back to the spiritual world. Vidyapati wanted to do the same and climbed the tree to jump in the lake. Then a voice from the sky declared that before he jumped he should tell Indradyumna that he had found Nila-madhava.
When Visvasu returned to worship the Deity, Nila-madhava spoke and said that He had accepted the simple worship from him for so many days, but now He wanted to accept the opulent worship that would be offered by King Indradyumna. When Vidyapati went back to tell the King, Indradyumna immediately went to find Nila-madhava but could not locate Him. So the King arrested Visvasu, but a voice told him to release the Shabara and that he should build a temple on top of Nila Hill where the King would see the Lord as Daru-brahman, the wooden manifestation of the Absolute.
After great endeavor, King Indradyumna built the temple at Sri Kshetra, now known as Jagannatha Puri, and later prayed to Lord Brahma to consecrate it. However, Lord Brahma said that it was not within his power to consecrate the temple since Sri Kshetra is manifested by the Supreme's own internal potency and is where the Lord manifests Himself. So Brahma simply put a flag on top of the temple and blessed it, saying that anyone who from a distance saw the flag and offered obeisances would easily be liberated from the material world. Nonetheless, after much waiting the King became anxious since Nila-madhava had not manifested Himself. Thinking his life was useless, the King decided he should end his life by fasting. But in a dream the Lord said that He would appear floating in from the sea in His form as Daru-brahman.
The King went to the shore and found a huge piece of wood that had the markings of a conch, disc, club, and lotus. This was Daru-brahman. But try as they might, the men could not budge the wood. In a dream the Lord spoke to the King and instructed him to get Visvasu and put a golden chariot in front of Daru-brahman. After doing this and forming a kirtana party to chant the holy names, and praying for Daru-brahman to mount the chariot, Daru-brahman was easily moved. Lord Brahma performed a sacrifice where the present temple now stands and installed a Deity of Lord Narasimhadeva, the Deity that is now on the western side of the temple.
From the wooden Daru-brahman, the King requested many expert carvers to carve the form of the Deity, but none could do so for their chisels immediately broke when they touched the wood. Finally the architect of the demigods, Visvakarma, (some say the Lord Himself) arrived as an old artist, Ananta Maharana, and promised that he would carve the Deity form of the Lord inside the temple in three weeks if the King would allow him to work behind closed doors. But after 14 days the King became very anxious because he could no longer hear the sounds of the carving. Finally he could stand it no more. On the advice of the queen he personally opened the doors of the temple to see what was happening. Then he saw the forms of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama, and Lady Subhadra. But because the King had opened the doors sooner than he was supposed to, the Deities were not completed; Their feet and hands had not yet been carved. Thus, the Supreme manifested Himself in this form.
The King felt he had committed a great offense for having opened the doors before the allotted three weeks had passed, so he decided to end his life. But in a dream Lord Jagannatha told the King that though he had broken his promise, this was just a part of the Supreme's pastimes to display this particular form. The King was told that this form, even though it appeared to be incomplete, was actually the form of the Lord that was meant to be worshiped in this age of Kali-yuga. Occasionally the King could decorate the Deity with golden hands and feet. Yet those devotees filled with love would always see the form of Lord Jagannatha as the threefold bending form of Syamasundara, Krishna, holding a flute. Thus, the Supreme appeared in this form so that people could approach and see Him, especially as He rides through town on the huge carts during the Ratha-Yatra festival.

What to expect at this year's festival

For devotees of Krishna and visitors to Durban, Easter week-end has become synonymous with Ratha-Yatra, Festival of Chariots.  Now, celebrating its 24^th year on Durban’s beachfront, this festival can proudly boast as being the only free exclusively spiritual and intrinsically cultural festival in the province, spanning over 4 days! 

A traditional part of the festival is naturally the chariots procession.  Three 15metre high chariots festooned with thousands of flower garlands and colourful canopies towering across the 10 metre wide structure, will be manually drawn as thousands of chanting and dancing devotees, accompanied by traditional Indian musical instruments, tug along the ropes through the streets of Durban’s beachfront area.

This year the processions will take place on Friday, 6^th April (Hanuman Jayanti) at 1pm from the South Beach (opposite Garden Court), heading in a northerly direction on the Upper Marine Parade and turning into Argyle Road and then into Brickhill Road, reaching the festival site – the former Durban Drive-In.

A second shorter parade will take place on Monday, 9^th April at 4.30pm leaving from the festival site, heading south and then joining the Upper Marine Parade, heading north and then turning into Argyle road and back to the festival site.

The festival which is seeped with spiritual significance, aims to showcase the Krishna conscious philosophy and lifestyle via various media.  Through the performing arts, one will be entertained with song, dance and dramas dedicated to Lord Krishna and His activities.  The best in local and international performers are being sourced to ensure an exhilarating treat for attendees. 

The various food stalls will have a tantalising range of vegetarian food items (fast foods to full course meals), all freshly prepared by devotees and offered to Lord Krishna.  Apart from the food stalls, every visitor to the festival will be invited to relish a sumptuous meal of breyani, dhall, soji, salad and juice – totally free of charge – in the true spirit of Krishna conscious hospitality.

Those interested in spiritual literature will be spoilt for choice as over 100 titles will be available from small paperback and  magazines to Bhagavad Gita As It Is, entire set of Srimad Bhagavatam (12 volumes) and Caitanya Caritamrta (9 volumes) at hugely discounted prices.  Visitors will also have the opportunity to present questions to scholars of these books in special designated “Question and Answer” booths. 

At least 8 international leaders of ISKCON will be in attendance, including chairperson of ISKCON’s governing body commission, His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Swami.

Over 30 marquees will form a tent city, displaying exhibits, Indian jewellery and clothing bazaar, cow protection arena, multi-media, CD and DVD, arts and crafts....

There will also be a special lifestyle marquee which will host cooking demonstrations, yoga sessions, talks by alternative health specialists, dieticians and nutritional researchers.

Keeping in line with the fact that the deities leave the temple and go out into the streets of the city to distribute Their mercy to onlookers, the on-site temple will afford visitors an opportunity to perform worship at the festival grounds, where fruit, flowers, incense, ghee lamps and other paraphernalia will be available for such worship.  Visitors can also participate in an abhishek (bathing ceremony) of the deities of Sita, Rama Laksman and Hanuman in the wake of Ramnaumi which would have been celebrated on Sunday, 1^st April.

Likewise, “The Ramayan” will be the main drama to be showcased at the festival.  With a cast of over 40 actors and produced and directed by Bhakti Marg Swami from Canada, the drama promises to be a spectacular enactment of this age-old pastime.

Also, expounding on the theme of Lord Rama’s (an incarnation of Lord Krishna) pastimes where He exhibited the role of the ideal king and husband, spiritual discussions on these and other aspects of the Ramayana will take place daily from 1pm to 3pm in the main marquee which has a seating capacity of 3000 guests.  On 6^th April, the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti will be observed, with discussions on the glorious role of Hanuman in the Ramayan.

A breath-taking aerial fireworks display will light up the Durban night skies on Saturday evening.

The festival promises to cater for everyone in the family, not forgetting the little kiddies.  Children will enter into a spiritual wonderland, full of activities that will inspire and attract them to spiritual life – from Candle dipping, grinding grain, rolling and making chapatis, making pizzas in dung stoves, sword and shield sanding, gopi dots, hair braiding, sewing craft, rangoli and mosaic murals, the children are sure to have a memorable time at the festival.  Visit http://www.thebluemountain.org/ for more information on the “Nilacala, Blue Mountain, children’s spiritual theme park.

The festival commences at noon every day and concludes at 10pm.  Admission is free.  Free transport will be provided from Chatsworth and surrounding areas to and from the festival grounds at specific timings. 

For further information contact Champakalata dasi on 082 824 2203 or e-mail: champakalata@telkomsa.net