Puri Jagannath Temple | Chariots Roll

Puri Jagannath Temple | Chariots Roll | UPSC

HEADLINES:

Chariots roll in Puri without crowds

WHY IN NEWS:

Traditional servitors who tested negative for COVID-19 performed the rituals

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : Temples : Architecture in Ancient India

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS you have take key points of this celebration like how the celebration begins , food , cuisines , rituals and also the temple structure is very important.

For MAINS Ganga dynasty and its influence in society, culture and administration will suffice the preparation .

ISSUE:

The traditional servitors of Shree Jagannath Temple, who tested negative for COVID-19, performed the rituals associated with the Rath Yatra, which was allowed by the Supreme Court with stringent conditions.

Puri Jagannath Temple Chariots Roll UPSC

Fire service personnel spray a sanitising solution during the Rath Yatra in Puri.

WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE THE YATRA BEGINS?

The start of the yatra happens with Odisha gearing up for the ceremony of the deity’s rebirth, called Nabakalebara, which takes place every 10-19 years.

CELEBRATION BEGINS HERE !

RITUALS AND TIME : Ritual takes place when the extra month (adhik maas) is meant to align the Hindu lunar calendar to the solar cycle, which appears in the summer which makes two months of Ashadha (June-July), not just the one.
SNANA PURNIMA : Every year, in this month, when the summer is at its height, the deity and his siblings step out to bathe in public, unable to bear the heat inside the temple.
ANASAR GHAR : Then, for the fortnight that follows, Krishna and his siblings take ill after they bathe with 108 pots of water under the blazing sun, and are kept in a recovery chamber called anasar ghar.
GUNDICHA : When they recover, their appetite returns and they wish to eat the food cooked by their aunt Gundicha, whose house is a little away from his temple.
GRAND CHARIOT : So Krishna steps on his grand chariot and makes his way there.

This is the start of the famous nine-day Jagannath Rath Yatra (this year it begins on 18 July), whose gigantic chariots inspired the British to coin the word “juggernaut”.

CHARIOTS OF THE DEITIES :

The chariots of the deities are newly built every year.

Jagannath’s chariot is called Nandighosa, the chariot of Balabhadra is called Taladhwaja and that of Subhadra is called Dwarpadalana.

WHEELS OF CELEBRATION : The total number of wheels on Lord Jagannath’s chariot are 16, Lord Balabhadra’s chariot are 14 and Subhadra’s chariot are 12.
TEMPLE FOOD : The temple food or mahaprasad, known locally as abhada, is pretty famous too — just like the Puri temple is famous for its kitchen.
LARGEST PRESSURE COOKER : Large pots of food are placed on top of each other and cooked with wood fire and steam, starting from the top layer.

The adorable part is that the food is made available to every person through the little buzzing market adjacent to the temple, called Anand Bazaar.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE FESTIVAL?

The Ratha Yatra is a symbolic journey of Krishna back to his childhood.
Taken along with siblings, not wife Lakshmi, who is left behind in the main temple, much to the latter’s irritation, which is enacted out ritually by priests (and maharis or temple dancers, in the days of yore).

ESSENCE OF CELEBRATION : The whole celebration are to evoke the feeling that even the great Jagannath has marital problems just like the guy next door.

JAGANNATH TEMPLE UNDER GANGA DYNASTY

Jagannath Temple was constructed by King Chodaganga.

The king started the construction and Jaga mohan or the assembly hall and Vimana or chariot of the temple were constructed during his reign.

Later Anangabhima Deva completed the construction of the temple in 1174AD.

LORD JAGANNATH TEMPLE

Jagannath (”lord of the universe”) is a deity worshipped in regional traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism in India and Bangladesh.

Jagannath is considered a form of Vishnu.

He is part of a triad along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.

IASbhai WINDUP:

INVASIONS ON THE TEMPLE

The temple was invaded by many rulers and the count goes to eighteen century.
The temple was plundered and looted because of enormous wealth present in it.
Due to these attacks, the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra were transferred to various places in order to save them.

The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath was held in Puri on Tuesday without the usual congregation of devotees, a historic departure from the centuries-old tradition.

SOURCES:THE HINDU | Puri Jagannath Temple | Chariots Roll | UPSC

DISCOVER MORE : Important GS-1 Issues for Prelims 2020

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for Daily Current Affairs , Editorial Analysis & Answer writing video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.