Rath Yatra is an annual festival wherein Lord Jagannath along with his brother, Balaram and sister, Subhadra visit their aunt, Maa Gundicha’s temple. Also known as the Festival of Chariots, Rath Yatra will be celebrated this year on June 20.
The deities; Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra travel in three different chariots. The chariot of Jagannath is known as Nandighosha and runs on 18 wheels. The chariot of Balaram is known as Taladhwaja and runs on 16 wheels. The chariot of Subhadra is known as Padmadhwaja and has 14 wheels.
Every year new chariots are made for all three deities. While the design, structure and dimensions remain the same; the materials used for making the chariot are new.
The construction of all three chariots begins on Akshaya Tritiya and almost 1400 carpenters work to build all three chariots. The carpenters use their hands and fingers for measurement instead of measuring tapes.
Every year on the day of the Rath Yatra, there’s heavy rainfall. This is also considered to be auspicious. There hasn’t been a year when it didn’t rain on the day of rath yatra.
People who have attended the Rath Yatra say that initially, the chariots don’t move at all regardless of how many people pull or push the chariots. However, it is only after a few hours that the chariots start to move.
There are no machines or horses that are deployed to pull the chariots. Instead, the chariots are pulled by the devotees who visit the Rath Yatra.
The top of the chariots of all chariots resemble the structure of the Jagannath Temple. 15 skilled workers make the canopies of the three chariots from 1, 200 metres of cloth.
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