Bengal celebrates Rath Yatra with passion

Amid chants of "Hare Krishna" and "Jai Jagannath", thousands of devotees revelled as the decorated chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balaram and their sister Subhadra threaded their way through in various places of West Bengal on Sunday during the annual Rath Yatra.

People thronged on roads, went up to roof tops to have a glance of their beloved Lord Jagannath, as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) marked the 46th edition of the chariot festival in the state capital.

More than 1,000 foreign devotees from 50 countries and close to a lakh people braved the torrid weather to get an opportunity to pull the cart of Lord Jaganannath, Baladev and Subhadra at Iskcon's headquarters at Mayapur in Nadia district.

This year, the Rath Yatra of Mahesh at Hooghly district's Sreerampore marked the 621st edition of the festival while chanting of holy names reverberated as thousands of devotees pulled the decked up chariots at Mahishadal in East Midnapore.

The Mahesh Rath Yatra is considered to be the second oldest chariot festival in the world and the oldest in Bengal, having been celebrated since 1396.

Thousands of jolly faces bubbling with enthusiasm including large number of children, women, and even elders who could barely walk pushed aside all difficulties and divisions of caste, creed, colour, religion and flocked to be a part of the annual festivities.

Iskcon is organising this year's Rath Yatra festival in Kolkata with a South Indian touch as they celebrate the 1,000th birth anniversary of philosopher-saint Ramanuj Acharya, the founder of Sri Sampradaya (sect).

In absence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, state ministers inaugurated the Kolkata Rath Yatra.

Justice Rakesh Tiwari of Calcutta High Court, who inaugurated the Rath Yatra in Mayapur at Iskcon Jagannath Rajapur temple, swept the ground before the cart of Lord Jagannath proceeded, which is a customary practice.

In a spirit of celebration and obeisance, the believers sang and danced all the way through to the rhythmic beats of cymballs and drums.

The festival marks the age-old annual journey of the three deities from the 12th century Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha, to their aunt's residence in the Gundicha temple, 3 km away. The festival is celebrated elsewhere too in the country by the faithful.

Security has been beefed up in the city and the outskirts to prevent untoward incidents during the festival.