The Festival of Chariots

Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom
This year, was the first time I’ve ever attended a Ratha Yathra. I had seen the parade a couple of times, but I’d never been directly a part of it. So this year, I only had a general idea of what to expect. And after it was over, I was still in awe from it all because it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
I’ve been to Mandir, I’ve been to poojas, but I’ve never seen devotees get as involved in worship as the “Hari Krishnas” did at the final aarti at the Ratha Yathra ceremony. Everyone was so vibrant and active and dancing and singing, it was absolutely amazing. Everyone was involved; I was pulled in to join though I really didn’t know what to do with my two left feet. I did the best I could because everyone’s energy was so infectious. You could see it on every devotee’s face that they were happy to be there, that the entire ceremony meant so much to them.
The parade itself was pretty spectacular, the Murtis of Shri Jagganath, Balram and Subhadra were so majestic looking that they took my breath away. The stage programme was lovely, with everyone giving speeches from different perspectives. I was one of the speakers and I spoke from the perspective of a young Hindu girl. I got an opportunity to speak about some of the things that I care deeply about.
Things like parents having to set a good example for their children, because children need role models and their parents are the first set of people they look up to. I know I wouldn’t be living the way I do, or making the choices I do if I hadn’t learnt about being a good Hindu from my parents.
And it’s the seemingly little things parents and the entire family as a whole can do, that can bring them closer together, so that the parents can help their kids establish their identities at an early age instead of the kids having to get bright ideas about needing to ‘find themselves’ in Europe or somewhere. Things like having a pooja room or a prayer room, things like having religious pictures around the house so that when people enter the home, they’ll be able to say, ‘Yes, this is a Hindu home.’
The ISCON movement, living in God-consciousness through love of the young Krishna, was inspired by the life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. While focusing on the teachings of the Bhagwatam – the exploits of Lord Krishna – they emphasise the love between him and Radha.
The Ratha Yatra was introduced by the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, at the temple in Puri Orssa dedicated to Lord Vishnu as “Jaggernath – Lord of the universe”. The original huge murtis pulled through the streets of Puri gave the word ‘juggernaut’ to the English language.
The Ratha Yathra ceremony was absolutely beautiful – I was touched by the absolute sincerity of every person there. I would strongly urge everyone to be a part of one at least once in their lives. It was a fulfilling experience.
I turned 17 on Friday, and I think I crossed that threshold a bit wiser, a bit more aware of the world around me on Saturday, because I experienced my first Ratha Yathra.