Jagannatha Ratha Yatra at St Kilda Festival

Beaconsfield Parade,St Kilda

This year, the Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath was celebrated on February 8^th. The procession was organised as a part of  the St Kilda Festival, which is one of the biggest free Music festivals and the venue was Catani Gardens at St Kilda. It was a pleasant and perfect day of 25 Degrees and a mild wind blowing from the ocean. Jagannath meaning "Lord of the Universe" set out in the procession with his elder brother Balaram and Subhadra.

The Skanda Purana relates King Indradyumna’s quest to find a deity form of Krishna after dreaming of a beautiful blue deity named Nila Madhava.Disguised an old man, Vishvakarma, the architect of the demigods, arrived to carve the deities under the condition that he would remain undisturbed for twenty-one days. King Indradyumna consented, and the artist worked behind locked doors. Before the time period was up, however, the noise stopped, and King Indradyumna’s intense curiosity prompted him to open the doors. Vishvakarma had disappeared. In the room, the three deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra looked as if unfinished—without hands or feet—and Indradyumna became greatly perturbed, thinking he had offended the Lord. Devotees now worship the same “unfinished” forms of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra in Puri and in temples around the world. These forms are part of their eternal pastimes.

The Utkala-khanda of the Skanda Purana gives another account related to Krishna’s appearance as Jagannatha. (Utkala is the traditional name for Orissa.) Once, during a solar eclipse, Krishna, Balarama, Subhadra, and other residents of Dwaraka went to bathe in a holy pond at Kurukshetra. Knowing that Krishna would be there, Srimati Radharani, Krishna’s parents Nanda and Yashoda, and other residents of Vrindavana, who were burning in the fire of separation from the Lord, went to meet Him. Inside one of the many tents the pilgrims had set up at Kurukshetra, Rohini, Lord Balarama’s mother, and narrated Krishna’s Vrindavana pastimes to the queens of Dwaraka and others.

Beaconsfield Parade,St Kilda

The residents of Dwaraka are said to be in the mood of opulence (aishvarya), and they worship Krishna as the Supreme Lord. But the residents of Vrindavana are in the mood of sweetness (madhurya), and they have a confidential relationship with Krishna that surpasses awe and reverence because it is based on friendship and love. Rohini’s narration was thus extremely confidential, so she posted Subhadra at the door to prevent anyone from entering.

Beaconsfield Parade,St Kilda

Krishna and Balarama came to the door and stood on Subhadra’s left and right sides. While listening to Rohini’s narration of Krishna’s intimate Vrindavana pastimes, Krishna and Balarama became ecstatic, and Their internal feelings were exhibited externally. Their eyes became dilated, Their heads compressed into Their bodies, and Their limbs retracted. Seeing these transformations in Krishna and Balarama, Subhadra also became ecstatic and assumed a similar form. Thus, by hearing about Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavana, Krishna and Balarama, with Subhadra in between, displayed their ecstatic forms of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra.

Jagannatha to the right, Baladeva to left and Subdhra in the Middle

It is said that the participants in the festivities will be blessed immensely by Lord Jagannatha (Krsna) such as (1) By the sight of Jagannatha's merciful large two eye globes, the devotee will be blessed with astute purity of mind and spiritual elevation; (2) Observing the rathayatra will dissipate the sins committed by the embodied person in the past births; (3) The accompanying person in the rathayatra will receive opulence at par with Lord Vishnu even if he hails from a poor family; (4) Dancing, singing and chanting in the rathayatra entourage, the participant will be elevated to a level superior to yogis; and (5) Active participation in the rathayatra by any means will receive the utmost blessings of Lord Jagannatha.

Face Painting stall

Srila Prabhupada said, "If you participate in these car festivals, as stated in the scriptures, rathe ca vanam drstva punar janma na vidyate... If you kindly see these Jagannatha deities riding on these cars or these processions, and as Caitanya Mahaprabhu chanted the Hare Krsna mantra in front of this car, then according to the Vedic scripture, in your next life you'll go back, back to Godhead." Those who participate in the festival have a food for thought in the years to come and it may drag down even to the final moments of their life to affix the attention in the eventful pastimes of Jagannatha as Krsna tells in Bhagavad Gita (8.5-6),

My son

For a brief history of  Rath Yatra, the internal meaning and the glories of participating, appreciating or simply looking at Rath Yatra, please refer to my last year’s blog article.

http://ausram.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/a-spectacular-ratha-yatra-at-st-kilda.html

For further details of the event, conducted by ISKCON at Melbourne, please visit the below link.

http://www.festivalofthechariots.com.au/