Sree Vijaya Durga Kali Temple will be celebrating Sri Jagannath Ratha Yatra on Saturday, the July 18 2015 from 4 to 8 pm. The Ratha Yatra starts from the temple at 85 Wilmington road and will go on Wilmington Road towards Cambridge street and back to the temple covering about 1.5 miles. Please visit www.siddhalalitha.org for detailed schedule.

A Rathaa-Yatra or Roth Jatra or Chariot Festival is a Hindu festival that involves transporting deities on a chariot.  "Ratha" in Oriya means chariot and "yatra" means journey. The festival thus refers to the annual journey of the divinity in the form of idols to their aunt's house. "Aunt" here refers to the feminine creative aspect of divinity.  The festival originated in Puri in the State of Odisha. During the festival, the three deities (Lord Jaggannath, his elder brother Balbhadra and his sister Subhadra) are taken from the Jagannath Temple in the chariots to the Gundicha temple, where they stay for nine days. Thereafter, the deities again ride the chariots back to Shri Mandir in bahuda yatra. It is said that Lord Jaggannath along with brother and sister comes out of temple once a year to give Darshan to all who were not allowed to enter the temple.

The chariots used during Rathaa Yatra are built every year. They all have separate chariots and represent distinguish features. Lord Jagannath's chariot is called as Nandhighosa or Chakradhwaja, which simply describe about tumultuous and blissful sound. It has 16 wheels, 45 feet tall and 65 tons weigh, Garuda on its crest along with four white wooden horses are the specific features of Lord Jagannath's Ratha. Lord Balaram's cart is called Taladhwaja, which means the sound of significantly powerful rhythm. It has 14 wheels, and is drawn by four black wooden horses. It carries Hanuman on its crest. Goddess Subhadra's cart is called Padmadhwaja or Darpadalan, which means destroyer of pride. It has a lotus on its crest, uses 12 wheels, and is drawn by four red wooden horses.

This year the Ratha Yatra is celebrated with more spiritual excitement and is called Nabakalebar Ratha Yatra. Navakalevara means "New Body or re-embodiment" where the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan are replaced by a new set of idols. This Nabakalebara is happening after 19 years and the last ones were celebrated in 1912, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1977 and 1996. The festival is started with Banajog Yatra to find the new woods for carving the idols and will conclude with Ratha Yatra followed by Sunabesha (adorning the new images of gods with golden attire) with many other rituals.

At Sree Vijaya Durga Kali Temple, we will follow all rituals of Ratha Yatra including Sunabesha on Saturday July 18 of 2015.

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