25-Jun-09
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We had a very wonderful Ratha yatra celebration yesterday here in Kolkata.
Guru Maharaja went to Park circus area where the Ratha yatra began.
There were three carts for Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Maharani. First
is Baladeva’s rath then is Subhadra Maharani and the last is Jagannatha’s
cart. Guru Maharaja offered the lamps to Baladeva and the chief guests
offered different items to the Lord. Later all of them along with Guru
Maharaja (with the help of his servants) did the coconut breaking ceremony
and sweeping the road. The same kind of items were offered to Subhadra Devi
and also to Lord Jagannath.
The previous day Guru Maharaja had expressed his strong desire to climb on
the cart. Therefore the Kolkata management had made special staircase which
was attached to the Jagannath’s cart. With the help of his servants Guru
Maharaja climbed the cart. Since a month the climate in Kolkata has been
very hot and humid. It was a bit difficult for Guru Maharaja to climb up but
along with the support of the servants he managed to climb upto the cart.
Guru Maharaja offered lotus flower to Lord Jagannath. He also sat in the
cart for a while and gave a small speech addressing the audience. He thanked
all of them for coming to take part in this very important event. He also
invited them to visit the pandal where Jagannath will be for 8 days. On this
cart was Ganga prabhu who was to drive Lord Jagannath’s cart and also HH
Bhakti Siddhanta Maharaja.
As soon as the inauguration ceremony began the climate started to change.
There were clouds in the sky, cool breeze and nice drizzling which was like
demigods showering flowers. It made everyone very happy. Actually almost
everyone was praying for this to happen and the Lord seemed to have
mercifully reciprocated.
After getting down the cart Guru Maharaja did a small kirtan in front of
each Deity. Everyone was ecstatic to see Guru Maharaja after a long time.
Just his presence was enough to enlighten the devotees.
Shastra prabhu from Ghana, Africa who lives in Mayapur was invited for the
Ratha yatra for leading the Harinam party in the front. There were different
Diaroma depicting the various pastimes of the Lord like dasavatara, jhulan
(swing) pastime, origin of Ganges, killing of Ravana by Lord Ramachandra
etc. Also some matajis were holding flowers, lamps on the plate. There was
also a matajis kirtan party in front of Subhadra Devi.
After a while Guru Maharaja got back to temple to have his lunch and to take
rest. Although it is only a short distance from the temple due to heavy
traffic it took an hour to come back to the temple and hence everything got
delayed his lunch and also the time of rest got shortened. Guru Maharaja
woke up at 5.15 pm to go to the Ratha yatra pandal to give a lecture. In the
previous years after the Ratha yatra ceremony there were no cultural events
on that particular day. Upon the advice of Guru Maharaja and HH Bhakti
Purushottam Maharaja this year they had organized some events.
Guru Maharaja reached the pandal around 7.30pm and gave class in Bengali.
The pandal was packed with people. Guru Maharaja spoke about Srila
Prabhupada, how in his childhood he did Ratha yatra, how he worshipped his
deities following his father’s example etc. Also how King Prataprudra got
the mercy of Lord Caitanya by taking a humble position and sweeping the road
with the golden broom in front of the Lord and also massaging the lotus feet
of Lord Caitanya.
After the class Guru Maharaja went to have darshan of Lord Jagannath
Deities. He offered lamps and prayers. In reciprocation Guru Maharaja
received maha flowers, tulasi, garlands and fruits. Guru Maharaja
distributed the fruits to the devotees and people who were nearby him.
Guru Maharaja came back to the temple to have his dinner and Bhadra Caru
prabhu was also present in the room honoring his prasad. All the devotees
present near him were glorifying the day’s event and Guru Maharaja. Bhadra
Caru prabhu explained how this year the gathering of the crowd for Ratha
yatra was bigger than previous years. When he asked what was Guru Maharaja’s
feeling of the Ratha yatra, Guru Maharaja responded, “It was overwhelming
and very blissful to be in front of the Deities!” After dinner Guru Maharaja
took rest.