Divided by religion, united by Rath Yatra: People of different communities give final touches to carts

At a time when hate politics is trying to divide people belonging to different communities, the Ratha Yatra festival organised by ISKON at Mayapur is playing a positive role in bringing together members of all communities for the celebration.

The preparations and planning for the festival began on the day of Akshaya Trithia and since then, more than 100 devotees representing different communities worked day and night to decorate and give final touches to the carts that carry the Trinity. The cart is decorated with flowers, leaves, garlands, flags and lamps.

The procession will start from Rajapur at 2 pm, pass through Chand Kazi Samadhi, Bamanpukur Bazar, Balaldighi on Bhakti Sidhhanta Saraswati Road, covering a distance of 6 km. The procession will feature congregational chantings (sankirtan), dance and musical performances by the devotees. Further, accompanying the chariots, devotees will play drums, tambourines, trumpets and cymbals. On way, the deities will be showered with flowers and offered fruits, sweets like payesh and khaja and other delicacies. People from different communities will take part in the procession as joining in the rally is considered to be holy.

It may be mentioned that ISKON had organised an inter religious faith seminar to celebrate the meeting of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Chand Kazi. The Imams of local mosques along with Muslim scholars took part in the day-long meeting. Thousands of Hindu and Muslim devotees took part in the celebration.

According to Jagadhartia Das, Public Relations coordinator, every year the Rath Yatra in Mayapur draws huge crowd and this year too, the expected turnout will be more than a lakh people so the ISKCON authorities have made elaborate arrangements by installing numerous booths on the way which will be capable of rendering help to people in case of any emergency.

The Nadia district administration has taken elaborate arrangements for peaceful observance of the ceremony. The roads have been repaired and adequate policemen will be deployed to maintain peace. ISKON expects that more than one lakh people will participate in the week-long celebration.