Ratha Yatra in Torpignattara, 2022

Ratha Yatra. Torpignattara. Rome, 1 July 2022

After the festival at the end of May, in the streets of central Rome, the Hindu community of Bangladesh celebrated Ratha Yatra in the exact period in which it is celebrated in the whole area of the Indian sub-continent: that is, in early July.

Ratha Yatra derives from two Sanskrit words, Ratha, which means chariot or carriage, and Yatra which means journey or pilgrimage, while in other Indian languages such as Odia, phonetic equivalents are used, such as jatra.

The festival started on July 1st with prayers in the two temples in Torpignattara, the Om Hindu Mondir and the Sarbojonin Hindu Puja Mondir.

 

Then there was the construction of the wooden chariot outside the temple and the figures of the deities Jagannath (avatar of Vishnu), Balabhadra (his brother), Subhadra (his sister), and Sudarshana Chakra (his weapon), were placed inside it to the delight of the faithful who sang and danced with the Hare Krishna who arrived for the festival.

 

Once the chariot of the Sarbojonin Hindu Puja reached the other, the parade could begin, with the two chariots pulled with ropes by the faithful, along the main street of Torpignattara, with an unusual glance: a festive tide and colorful parade among the amazed and surprised inhabitants to see something that is not common.

When we reached the other temple, the long celebration began, which will continue for a week, when the main chariot will be returned, with the same procedure and path in reverse, to the Om Hindu Mondir.

 

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It was thanks to the Hare Krishna movement that the festival began to be common in major cities around the world, since 1968.

Ratha Yatra is very famous in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and other eastern Indian states, most notably the Odia festival.

Although Ratha Yatra has religious origins and significance, the festival has become a vital community heritage, of social sharing and cultural significance for the organizers and attendees.

During the Jagannath Rath Yatra, the triads are usually worshiped in the shrine of the Puri temple, but once during the month of Asadha (the rainy season of Odissa, which usually falls in June or July), they are brought to the main road Bada Danda in a path of 3 km up to the Shri Gundicha Temple, allowing the public to have the darśana (Sacred Sight). The chariot for Jagannath is approximately 45 feet 35 square feet tall and takes approximately 2 months to build. Puri artists and painters decorate the chariots and paint flower petals and other designs on the wheels, the charioteer and horses carved in wood, and the upside-down lotus flowers on the wall behind the throne.