The
most famous Orissan festival is of course the Ratha Yatra or Car Festival (June-July)
which attracts pilgrims and visitors from all over the world. Each year, (open
to all) in mid-summer, the proxy images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra,
the deities enshrined in the Jagannath Temple at Puri, are carried in colourful
processions every evening for 21 days to the Narendra Tank where they cruise
in a bright decorated boat.
The chariots are cleaned by the Gajapati Maharaja of purl with a golden broom
to proclaim that he is the first of the Lord's servants and on this particular
day he performs the duty of a scavenger to demonstrate socialism in action and
the dignity of labour. 'this act is connected with " famous incident in
Orissan history in course of which the king Purushottama Deva was outwitted
by his minister to marry the princess Padmavati. The deities then So to Gundichaghar
where they stall for eight days at the end of which the return car festival
(Bahuda Yatra) takes place, One has only to see the vast sea of humanity on
these occasions to convince oneself about the influence of religion on the people
of Orissa for whom Jagannath is no other Supreme Brahman, without beginning
and without end, and the saviour of mankind.
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