Rathayātrā

The story behind the day

Rathayātrā, the Chariot Festival, is the Vaiṣṇava festival in which images of Jagannātha, together with Balabhadra and Subhadrā, his brother and sister, are drawn on great wooden chariots through the streets of Puri in Odisha. It begins on the second day of the bright half of Āṣāḍha, in June or July, and the deities travel to the Guṇḍicā temple, a mile or two away, and back again. Hindus see Jagannātha as a form of Kṛṣṇa, and scholars add that he began as a local deity of the Puri region.^[1–4]

Origins

Nilamadhava and the log from the seaIllustration · AI-generated

The Jagannātha temple at Puri was completed in 1198, in the age of the Ganga kings of Odisha. Hindus regard its presiding deity as a form of Kṛṣṇa and so of Viṣṇu. The deity appears as a trio with his brother and sister, in roughly carved wooden images with short arms. The tradition's own account is the story of King Indradyumna, in which the divine architect Viśvakarmā carves the images but is interrupted, so they remain unfinished. Scholars see older roots: Jagannātha is generally considered a local deity of Puri assimilated into the Vaiṣṇava pantheon, and tribal servants, the daitās, still carve the new images. Kane records, and doubts, an older theory linking the three images with Buddhism.^{[3–4, 6–8]}

What it marks

The festival is the annual journey of the deities from their temple to the Guṇḍicā temple, a mile or two away, where they stay for about a week before coming back. It is the most important of Puri's festivals, and a ritual drama of the bond between the god and the kings of Puri, who ruled in his name; Kane notes that the Rājā of Khurdhā called himself the sweeper of Jagannātha.^{[2, 5, 9]}

How it is kept

the three chariots on the Grand Road, ropes and crowd — The three chariots on the Grand Road, ropes and crowdIllustration · AI-generated

On the second day of Āṣāḍha's bright half, the images are set on three enormous wooden chariots. Jagannātha's is about forty-five feet high, thirty-five feet square and carried on sixteen wheels; the cars of Balabhadra and Subhadrā are somewhat smaller. Devotees pull them with long ropes. The cars begin their return on the tenth day. British writers once told that devotees threw themselves under the wheels; scholars say such deaths were extremely uncommon, though the English word "juggernaut" comes from the god's name.^{[1, 10–11]}

Sources

Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.

VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV; J. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; Wisdom Library, Rathayatra.
VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV; J. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; Encyclopedia.com; Wisdom Library, Rathayatra.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; Encyclopedia.com.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV.
VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV; Encyclopedia.com; J. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV.
VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV; J. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism.
VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. IV; Encyclopedia.com.