Puri, June 26
Ahead of the Jagannath Rath Yatra in the coastal Odisha city of Puri, preparations are in full swing for the construction of chariots of the ceremonial procession of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and his sister Devi Subhadra.
This year the Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra is scheduled on July 7.
Three new Raths are built every year before the festival begins and are designed in a specific way. They are made of wood and decorated by local artists.
Bal Krishna Moharana, a part of the team working on the construction of the chariots for the Rath Yatra said, "Three chariots are prepared for Prabhuji Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra Maa Subhadra. Jagannath Ji's chariot has 16 wheels, Balabhadra Mahaprabhu's chariot has 14 wheels and Maa Subhadra's chariot has 12 wheels... New wood comes every year from the jungles of Daspalla, Nayagarh."
He stated that after the yatra, the wood of the chariot is used as firewood to prepare the Prasad every day at the Jagannath Temple. "Forty-two wheels of all three chariots are sold to the devotees... The construction work goes on from Akshay Tritya to Rath Yatra for two months... There are seven types of workers and it takes at least 200 people... Everything is handmade traditionally, any modern tool or machinery is not used... The measurements are also done in the ancient system, not in the modern metric system..."
The Ratha Jatra or the Chariot Festival is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
The festival encompasses the onward journey of the Holy Trinity to their maternal aunt Goddess Gundicha Devi's Temple and culminates with the return journey after eight days. In reality, the festival stretches from the day of AkhayaTrutiya (in April) and culminates with the return journey of the Holy Trinity to the Shree Mandir premises.
Apart from numerous Indian cities, the festival is observed with great fanfare right from New Zealand to South Africa and New York to London.