Chariot festival to come to town
The pulling of the chariot forms part of the celebrations for the Ratha Yatra festival, which is considered to be the oldest continuously celebrated spiritual festival in the world.
Each year the splendidly decorated chariot of Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe, is drawn throughout the streets of dozens of cities around the world.
The towering red and blue silken canopies rise into the sky, with people, young and old, singing, dancing and chanting in the streets.
The pulling of the chariot forms part of the celebrations for the Ratha Yatra festival, which is considered to be the oldest continuously celebrated spiritual festival in the world.
Throughout the year, the Deity of Lord Jagannatha is worshipped in great temples.
The Supreme Lord, by His potency, agrees to personally enter the form of the Deity, just to accept the loving devotional service of His devotees. This means the Deity form of the Lord is not different from the Lord Himself.
Once a year, Lord Jagannatha comes forth in all His magnificent splendour to enjoy the Ratha Yatra parade and show Himself to all.
How this particular Deity came into being is quite intriguing. Thousands of years ago, a king named Indrayumna desired to have someone carve special Deity forms of Lord Krishna, His brother Balarama and His sister Subhadra.
An architect and an artist from the heavenly planets agreed to make the Deities on the condition that no one would interrupt his work. However, after some time the king grew impatient and entered the room to see how much progress had been made.
Instantly, the architect disappeared, leaving behind three incompletely carved forms.
Regardless, the king was so pleased that he installed them in a great temple and worshipped them with great opulence.
Each year, he arranged a grand procession, during which each of the three Deities rode on a large, beautifully decorated cart.
During this most auspicious festival, Lord Jagannatha casts His glance over thousands of festival-goers , thus liberating them from multitudes of sinful reaction, bestowing immense spiritual benefit and placing them on the path home, back to Godhead.
ISKCON will be hosting the annual chariot parade on March 12. The procession will start at the town hall at 10am and end back at the town hall.
Admission is free and the entire community is invited to join in the day’s celebrations.
For more information, contact 034 312 3369.
