Ratha Yatra

*Ratha Yatra* in Hinduism
Viswanatha (Shiva) and Visalakshi (Parvati) chariot festival in Kerala	Chariot in Tamil Nadu
Krishna and Arjuna at a ratha festival	A girl as goddess in a Nepalese ratha during Indra Jatra
Krishna and Radha, London, UK chariot festival	Thiruvizha festival
A chariot is constructed for use in a Ratha Yatra celebration in London, UK.

Ratha Yatra
Ratha Yatra
	Three chariots of the deities with the Temple in the background, Puri
Also called	Ghosa Jatra
Observed by	Hindu
Type	Religious
Begins	Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya
Ends	Ashadha Shukla Dashami
2024 date	7 July
2025 date	27 June
2026 date	16 July
Frequency	annual

Ratha Yatra^[a] (/ˈrʌθə ˈjɑːtrə/), or chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot.^[3]^[4] They are held annually during festivals in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.^[5] The term also refers to the popular annual Ratha Yatra of Puri^[6] that involves a public procession with a chariot with deities Jagannath (Vishnu avatar), Balabhadra (his brother), Subhadra (his sister), and Sudarshana Chakra (his weapon) on a ratha, which is a wooden deula-shaped chariot.^[7]^[8]

Ratha Yatra processions have been historically common in Vishnu-related (Jagannath, Rama, Krishna) traditions in Hinduism across India,^[9] in Shiva-related traditions,^[10] saints and goddesses in Nepal,^[11] with Tirthankaras in Jainism,^[12] as well as tribal folk religions found in the eastern states of India.^[13] Notable Ratha Yatras in India include the Ratha Yatra of Puri, the Dhamrai Ratha Yatra in Bangladesh and the Ratha Yatra of Mahesh. Hindu communities outside India, such as in Singapore, celebrate Ratha Yatra such as those associated with Jagannath, Krishna, Shiva and Mariamman.^[14] According to Knut Jacobsen, a Ratha Yatra has religious origins and meaning, but the events have a major community heritage, social sharing and cultural significance to the organizers and participants.^[15]

Western impressions of the Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Puri as a display of unstoppable force are the origin of the English word juggernaut.

Etymology

Ratha Yatra is derived from two Sanskrit words, Ratha, which means chariot or carriage, and Yatra which means journey or pilgrimage.^[16]

Description

Ratha Yatra is a journey in a chariot accompanied by the public. It typically refers to a procession (journey) of deities, people dressed like deities, or simply religious saints and political leaders.^[5] The term appears in medieval texts of India such as the Puranas, which mention the Ratha Yatra of Surya (Sun god), of Devi (Mother goddess), and of Vishnu. These chariot journeys have elaborate celebrations where the individuals or the deities come out of a temple accompanied by the public journeying with them through the Ksetra (region, streets) to another temple or to the river or the sea. Sometimes the festivities include returning to the sacrosanctum of the temple.^[5]^[17]

Traveler Fa-Hien who visited India during 400 CE notes the way temple car festivals were celebrated in India.

The cities and towns of this country [Magadha] are the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom [Mathura through Deccan]. The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of four storeys by means of bamboos tied together. This is supported by a king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope. White and silk-like cloth of hair is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colours. They make figures of devas, with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli grandly blended and having silken streamers and canopies hung out over them. On the four sides are niches, with a Buddha seated in each, and a Bodhisattva standing in attendance on him. There may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. On the day mentioned, the monks and laity within the borders all come together; they have singers and skillful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and incense. The Brahmans come and invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so in order, and remain two nights in it. All through the night they keep lamps burning, have skillful music, and present offerings. This is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The Heads of the Vaisya families in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed people and cripples, and all who are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves.
— Faxian, c. 415 CE^[18]

Places

Dhamrai Jagannath Rathayatra

Dhamrai Jagannath Ratha is a chariot temple, a Roth, dedicated to the Hindu God Jagannath located in Dhamrai, Bangladesh. The annual Jagannath Ratha Yatra is a famous Hindu festival attracting thousands of people. The Ratha Yatra in Dhamrai is one of the most important events for the Hindu community of Bangladesh.^[19] The original historical Roth was burnt down by the Pakistan Army in 1971.^[17] The Roth has since been rebuilt with Indian assistance.

Rathayatra of Mahesh

The Rathayatra of Mahesh is the second oldest chariot festival in India (after the Rath Yatra at Puri) and the oldest in Bengal,^[20] having been celebrated since 1396 CE.^[21] It is a month-long festival held at Mahesh in Serampore of West Bengal and a grand fair is held at that time. People throng to have a share in pulling the long ropes (Roshi) attached to the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra on the journey from the temple to Gundicha Bari (Masir bari) and back. Subhadra is worshipped with Krishna in Jagannath Yatra.^[22]

Manipur

The practice of Ratha Yatra in Manipur was introduced in the nineteenth century. The Khaki Ngamba chronicle mentions that on a Monday in either April or May 1829, the King of Manipur Gambhir Singh was passing through Sylhet whilst on a British expedition against the Khasis. Two processions were being prepared by Sylhet's Muslim and Hindu communities respectively. The Islamic month of Muharram in the history of Sylhet was a lively time during which tazia processions were common. This happened to fall on the same day as Ratha Yatra. Sensing possible communal violence, the Faujdar of Sylhet, Ganar Khan, requested the Hindu community to delay their festival by one day. Contrary to the Nawab's statement, a riot emerged between the two communities. As a Hindu himself, Singh managed to defend the Hindus and disperse the Muslim rioters with his Manipuri troops. The Ratha Yatra was not delayed, and Singh stayed to take part in it. Revered by the Hindu community as a defender of their faith, he enjoyed the procession and initiated the practice of celebrating Ratha Yatra and worshipping Jagannath in his own homeland of Manipur.^[23]

Examples

Left: A 1914 painting of a chariot festival (Ratha Yatra) in Chennai; Right: A Matsyendranath Ratha Yatra in Nepal

Ratha-Jatra, Puri, at Puri in the state of Odisha, is the largest and most visited Ratha Yatra in the world.

Rath Yatra (Ahmedabad) is the third largest in the world.^[24]
Dhamrai Rathayatra is at Dhamrai in Bangladesh.
People of Bastar region observe Ratha Yatra during Dussehara.^[25]^[26]
Radha Rani Ratha Yatra, held at the Radha Madhav Dham temple near Austin, Texas, U.S.A.

Notes

^ Other transliterations include Ratha Jatra, Rathayatra, and Rathajatra.

References

^ "National Portal of India". india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
^ "National Portal of India". india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
^ Lavanya Vemsani (2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3.
^ Christophe Jaffrelot (1999). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s. Penguin Books. pp. 416–421. ISBN 978-0-14-024602-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Michaels; Cornelia Vogelsanger; Annette Wilke (1996). Wild Goddesses in India and Nepal: Proceedings of an International Symposium, Berne and Zurich, November 1994. P. Lang. pp. 270–285. ISBN 978-3-906756-04-2.
^ Peter J. Claus; Sarah Diamond; Margaret Ann Mills (2003). South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Taylor & Francis. pp. 515–. ISBN 978-0-415-93919-5.
^ Lavanya Vemsani (2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3.
^ Mandai, Paresh Chandra (2012). "Rathajatra". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Bruce M. Sullivan (2001). The A to Z of Hinduism. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 100, 166, 209. ISBN 978-0-8108-4070-6.
^ Pratapaditya Pal; Stephen P. Huyler; John E. Cort; et al. (2016). Puja and Piety: Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Art from the Indian Subcontinent. University of California Press. pp. 72–74 with Figures 23–25. ISBN 978-0-520-28847-8.
^ J.P. Losty (2004). David M. Waterhouse (ed.). The Origins of Himalayan Studies: Brian Houghton Hodgson in Nepal and Darjeeling, 1820-1858. Routledge. pp. 93–94 with Figure 5.11. ISBN 978-0-415-31215-8.
^ Virendra Kumar Sharma (2002). History of Jainism: With Special Reference to Mathurā. DK. p. 162. ISBN 978-81-246-0195-2.
^ Ajit K. Singh (1982). Tribal Festivals of Bihar: A Functional Analysis. Concept. pp. 30–33.
^ Vineeta Sinha (2008). Knut A. Jacobsen (ed.). South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora. Routledge. pp. 159–174. ISBN 978-1-134-07459-4.
^ Knut A. Jacobsen (2008). Knut A. Jacobsen (ed.). South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora. Routledge. pp. 8–11, 200–201. ISBN 978-1-134-07459-4.
^ Nori J. Muster (2013). Betrayal of the Spirit. University of Illinois Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-252-09499-6.
^ ^a ^b Mandai, Paresh Chandra (2012). "Rathajatra". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Fa-Hien (1875). "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Chapter XXVII: Pataliputra or Patna, In Magadha)". gutenberg.org. Translated (published 415). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Rathajatra festival today". The New Nation, Dhaka. 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
^ "Rathayatra celebrated in West Bengal". The Hindu. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
^ "Bengal celebrates Rathajatra festival". Monsters and Critics. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2008.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Why Subhadra is Worshipped with Krishna in Jagannath Yatra". July 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
^ Singh, Moirangthem Kirti (1980). Religious Developments in Manipur in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Manipur State Kala Akademi. pp. 165–166. Gonarkhan
^ "About Ahmedabad Ratha Jatra : Jamalpur Jagannath Temple".^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ S Banerjee, Partha (2008). "Dussehra in Bastar -- a riot of colours - Economic Times". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2013. The Bastar royal family figures prominently in the script and the props include a huge chariot that is first built, then ritually 'stolen', and then again recovered and pulled ceremonially through the streets of Jagdalpur
^ "Tribals celebrate unique Dussehra in Bastar - Oneindia News". news.oneindia.in. 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2023. Another attraction of this 'tribal Dusshra', is a double-decked Ratha (Chariot) with eight wheels and weighing about 30 tonnes.

Bibliography

Das, J. P. (1982), Puri Paintings: the Chitrakara and his Work, New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann, ISBN 9788190158978
Mitter, P. (1977). Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226532394.
Starza, O. M. (1993), The Jagannatha Temple at Puri: Its Architecture, Art, and Cult, BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-09673-8, retrieved 15 December 2012

[3] Other transliterations include Ratha Jatra, Rathayatra, and Rathajatra.

[1] "National Portal of India". india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.

[2] "National Portal of India". india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2020.

[vemsani135-4] Lavanya Vemsani (2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3.

[5] Christophe Jaffrelot (1999). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s. Penguin Books. pp. 416–421. ISBN 978-0-14-024602-5.

[Michaels1996p270-6] Michaels; Cornelia Vogelsanger; Annette Wilke (1996). Wild Goddesses in India and Nepal: Proceedings of an International Symposium, Berne and Zurich, November 1994. P. Lang. pp. 270–285. ISBN 978-3-906756-04-2.

[ClausDiamond2003-7] Peter J. Claus; Sarah Diamond; Margaret Ann Mills (2003). South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Taylor & Francis. pp. 515–. ISBN 978-0-415-93919-5.

[8] Lavanya Vemsani (2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3.

[Banglapediab-9] Mandai, Paresh Chandra (2012). "Rathajatra". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[10] Bruce M. Sullivan (2001). The A to Z of Hinduism. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 100, 166, 209. ISBN 978-0-8108-4070-6.

[11] Pratapaditya Pal; Stephen P. Huyler; John E. Cort; et al. (2016). Puja and Piety: Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Art from the Indian Subcontinent. University of California Press. pp. 72–74 with Figures 23–25. ISBN 978-0-520-28847-8.

[12] J.P. Losty (2004). David M. Waterhouse (ed.). The Origins of Himalayan Studies: Brian Houghton Hodgson in Nepal and Darjeeling, 1820-1858. Routledge. pp. 93–94 with Figure 5.11. ISBN 978-0-415-31215-8.

[13] Virendra Kumar Sharma (2002). History of Jainism: With Special Reference to Mathurā. DK. p. 162. ISBN 978-81-246-0195-2.

[14] Ajit K. Singh (1982). Tribal Festivals of Bihar: A Functional Analysis. Concept. pp. 30–33.

[Jacobsen2008p159-15] Vineeta Sinha (2008). Knut A. Jacobsen (ed.). South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora. Routledge. pp. 159–174. ISBN 978-1-134-07459-4.

[16] Knut A. Jacobsen (2008). Knut A. Jacobsen (ed.). South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora. Routledge. pp. 8–11, 200–201. ISBN 978-1-134-07459-4.

[17] Nori J. Muster (2013). Betrayal of the Spirit. University of Illinois Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-252-09499-6.

[Banglapedia-18] Mandai, Paresh Chandra (2012). "Rathajatra". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[19] Fa-Hien (1875). "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Chapter XXVII: Pataliputra or Patna, In Magadha)". gutenberg.org. Translated (published 415). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[20] "Rathajatra festival today". The New Nation, Dhaka. 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2012 – via HighBeam Research.

[21] "Rathayatra celebrated in West Bengal". The Hindu. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2008.

[22] "Bengal celebrates Rathajatra festival". Monsters and Critics. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2008.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[23] "Why Subhadra is Worshipped with Krishna in Jagannath Yatra". July 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.

[24] Singh, Moirangthem Kirti (1980). Religious Developments in Manipur in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Manipur State Kala Akademi. pp. 165–166. Gonarkhan

[25] "About Ahmedabad Ratha Jatra : Jamalpur Jagannath Temple".^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[26] S Banerjee, Partha (2008). "Dussehra in Bastar -- a riot of colours - Economic Times". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2013. The Bastar royal family figures prominently in the script and the props include a huge chariot that is first built, then ritually 'stolen', and then again recovered and pulled ceremonially through the streets of Jagdalpur

[27] "Tribals celebrate unique Dussehra in Bastar - Oneindia News". news.oneindia.in. 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2023. Another attraction of this 'tribal Dusshra', is a double-decked Ratha (Chariot) with eight wheels and weighing about 30 tonnes.

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