LORD JAGANNĀTHA RATHA-YĀTRĀ CELEBRATED ACROSS BANGLADESH
Aseem Kṛṣṇa Das
Lord Jagannātha is the life and soul of His dear devotees. One who comes in contact with the Lord is enlivened just as an iron rod turns fiery upon contact with fire. A devotee always experiences transcendental bliss in the Lord’s divine association, which is never forgotten. After having relished this nectar even once, a devotee develops an ever-increasing hankering for the Lord; and when this desire to associate with the Lord increases up to a level where he is unable to pass even a moment away from Kṛṣṇa’s association, then that’s the perfection of his life.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is always easy. It’s an automatic process; and to our surprise, our Lord is much more eager to help us. The Lord is known as ‘bhakta-vatsala’ or the lover of His devotees. In order to distribute the nectar of His divine association, Lord Jagannātha, the Lord of the Universe, comes out onto the streets and showers His merciful glance on all of us. This is the Lord Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā festival. This festival is a chance for all those involved to taste the divine nectar of the Lord’s transcendental association.
Recently, several Lord Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā festivals were organized by devotees in the villages and cities of Bangladesh. Lots of hari-kathā, lots of sādhu-saṅga, lots of harināma, lots of prasādam, skits, dramas, yajña, traditional dance performances, śloka recitation, kīrtana- melā and a variety of other stage programs were a part of these festivals, with necessary COVID-19 measures taken. A short report is as follows:
Netrokona is a district in northern Bangladesh bordering Meghalya, India, and is populated up to about sixty percent by Hindus. Around 10 years ago, a small preaching centre was started there with just three brahmacārīs—Jayram Das, Tulsi Das and Anantadev Das; today, it has grown to over 30 enthusiastic brahmacārīs serving full time, and has a moderate temple hall with a sitting capacity of more than 200, a kitchen that can serve more than 10,000 plates of mahā-prasādam at a time and, last but not least, a contingent of sincere and simple-hearted devotees who keep the very temple bubbling with life. This is the Śrī Śrī Jagannātha Vallabha Temple at ISKCON Netrokona.
This year ISKCON Netrakona was happy to organize the 11th Lord Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā festival. The festival lasted for nine days and included a variety of programs, such as yajña, the return Ratha-yātrā, dramas, hari-kathā, kīrtana-melā and much more. The Ratha-yātrā day was fixed on the day following the ‘Eid’ celebrations in Bangladesh. It was a festival time for the locals and so they participated in the Ratha-yatra program in much greater numbers. Approximately one thousand people relished Lord Jagannātha’s prasādam after the yātrā.
Quite interestingly, utilizing the COVID-19 lockdown to their advantage, ISKCON Netrokona arranged for the hari-kathā to be conducted ‘live’ on the virtual platform. Many senior disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda managed to spare some of their most valuable time to bless the devotees in Netrokona and all over Bangladesh with their enlivening classes.
His Grace Jananivas Prabhu, His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaja, H.H. Mahadyuti Maharaja, His Grace Pancaratna Prabhu, His Grace Deenabandhu Prabhu, His Holiness Bhakti Jivana Vrajananda Swami and His Holiness Bhakti Vikas Swami Maharaja spoke during the nine days of Lord Jagannātha’s stay in Guṇḍicā Temple and on the auspicious day of the return Ratha-yātrā, His Holiness Bhakti Vighna Vinashak Nrisinga Maharaja delivered nectarine hari-kathā on Lord Jagannātha’s pastimes. After the lectures, Vedic dance programs, kīrtana-melās and dramas were also performed online.
Overall, the program was a grand success and was very well appreciated by the local people.
Another festival was organized by “Śrī Śrī Gour Gadādhara Ashram” located in Dhaka, Ghatoli Koatbari. It’s a newly-built Namahatta temple and is managed by Aniruddha Krishna Das Brahmacārī. This temple is located in a Hindu inhabited area and they participate enthusiastically in the temple programs. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in the area, the chariot procession was not held; nonetheless, the festival lasted for eight days. Local people participated in large numbers and attended the kīrtana-melā, hari-kathā, dramas, Vedic dance performances and other stage programs. The program was also well appreciated by the government officials and the Dhaka Mirpur police, as was evident from their eager participation in the programs. Everybody also relished Lord Jagannātha’s divine prasādam.
A small yet pretty Ratha-yātrā festival was also organized by Śrī Śrī Gaur Nitāi Ashram, Mirpur, Dhaka. His Grace Shuvananda Prabhu directed the events and the program was a great success. A beautiful ratha was constructed and a short procession was held for the satisfaction of the Lord. Local people, including both Hindus and Muslims alike, participated in the program and enjoyed Lord Jagannātha’s transcendental prasādam.
Śrī Śrī Gobind Ṭhākur Vigraha Mondir, ISKCON Palpara, Jamalpur, Bangladesh also organized Lord Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā festival. The ceremony lasted for nine days. A local gṛhastha devotee’s house was fixed as the Guṇḍicā Temple and the procession was carried out with full vigor and enthusiasm. It was the hard work of Arun Krishna Das Brahmacārī and his team, who are actively involved in preaching activities here. Many important personalities participated in the program. Sri Hemedra Chandra Sinha, an influential local businessman was the Chief Guest for the program. The General Secretary of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Committee, Sri Siddhartha Sankor Roy, was the Guest of Honor. Around six hundered people enjoyed Lord Jagannātha’s transcendental prasādam.
Also, for the first time, a Ratha-yātrā ceremony was held at the newly formed Śrī Śrī Jagannātha Mondir, Jhenidah, Vedic Nagari, Bhujitala Village. This new temple is surrounded by nearly 20 Hindu-inhabited villages. His Grace Anantadev Das and His Grace Bhakti Ratnak Das actively preach in this village. People from many different villages joined the Ratha-yātrā procession. A fire sacrifice was also performed to invoke auspiciousness. The procession was followed by various stage programs, which lasted for eight days. Local United Nations Officer, Sri Newton Bain, was the Chief Guest and the local police superintendent, Sri Jibon Kumar, was the Guest of Honor. Around 1,000 people relished Lord Jagannātha’s prasādam every day of the duration of the festival.
Śrīla Prabhupāda always encouraged the devotees to hold festivals for the Lord and these young devotees aspire to please Śrīla Prabhupāda with their tiny efforts.
Śrīla Prabhupāda has said, “I thank you all very much for making the Ratha-yātrā festival so successful. Please convey my gratitude to all the boys and girls who participated in this great transcendental service.” (SP Letter to Upendra, Montreal, 4 July 1968).
Last but not least, the brahmacārīs engaged in preaching services at these different places want to express their sincere gratitude for His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaja for his continuous guidance, support and inspiration in their spiritual lives. They sincerely thank all those devotees who rendered their invaluable services in the organization of the events.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Jaya Jagannātha! Jaya Baladeva! Jaya Subhadrā!
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!!!
For more photos: https://bit.ly/3zOG9t2