Bhubaneswar: Jagannath, the name says it all. A compound of two Sanskrit words jagat meaning “universe” and natha meaning “Master” or “Lord”, Jagannath means “lord of the universe” and devotees across the world have been proving it right.
Such is the devotion of the Lord that His most revered festival Rath Yatra, Chariot Festival or Car Festival, is celebrated not only in its place of origin i.e. Puri in Odisha but worldwide.
Rath Yatras were taken out by devotees all around the world. In US State Florida, the Rath Yatra was held on a sea beach. In a video posted on social media, devotees from different nationalities can be seen pulling the ‘Rath’ on the seashore, singing and dancing to hymns praising Lord Krishna also called Lord Jagannath.
The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and His divine siblings was also celebrated in Pakistan. The event was organised by the New Veikunth Dham Bhakt Samaj (Gaudiya Math) Pakistan at Karachi.
The event was attended by hundreds of devotees from the Hindu community residing there. Age or disability couldn’t hold them back. Unlike the Rath Yatra in Puri, the three deities were placed on a single chariot.
Days before the Rath Yatra in Puri, the Hare Krishna Parade was celebrated in New York City on June 11. A parade was taken down New York’s Fifth Avenue, from E 45th Street to the Hare Krishna Festival at Washington Square Park.
The Hare Krishna Parade features three hand pulled chariots, each 30 feet tall, with billowy red, yellow, and green silken canopies. Thousands of celebrants will dance, hold flags, play drums and cymbals, and sing the Hare Krishna chant along the entire parade route.
The New York Hare Krishna Parade or Rath Yatra is sponsored by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of New York City. It was inaugurated in 1976 by the Society’s founder and first teacher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
