Every year, in the month of Ashadha (June-July) when the summer is at its peak, the deity and his siblings step out for a cooling bath unable to bear the heat inside the temple. This happens on Snana Purnima. When you bathe with 108 pots of water under the blazing sun, you fall ill. And so every year, for the fortnight that follows, Krishna (whose reincarnation is Lord Jagannath) and his siblings take ill and are kept in a recovery chamber called anasar ghar. Here Vaids and the priests look after them and they are fed herbal medicines and khichdi (quintessential when you are sick). When they recover, appetite returns and they wish to eat the food cooked by their aunt Gundicha, whose house is a little away from his temple. So Krishna, with his siblings, steps on his grand chariot and makes his way there. This is the start of the famous nine-day Jagannath Rath Yatra .
This Year Rath Yatra Begins From 14th July 2018.
During the period known as Anasar the Gods cannot be seen by devotees. At this time three pata chitra paintings are displayed for devotees to view instead at the Alarnath Temple, because it is believed that the Lord manifests as Alarnath during this period. And after he recovers after a fortnight, he gets back onto his pedestel and blesses the devotees who flock from different parts of the world to look up at the Lord and be blessed. And from next day starts the famous Rath Yatra.
No comments:
Post a Comment