Car Festival of Lord Jagannath – Engineering details

In the case of the Car Festival of Lord Jagannāth, the collection of wood on Basanta Pañcamī (Jan-Feb) in the month of Māgha indicates the sacred beginning of the ceremony. Timbers for building the Car used to come from Dasapalla, a princely state of Orissa, but after the integration of States within Orissa in 1948, the Government of Orissa have been honouring the traditional commitment by acquiring the annual requirement of timber from the Forest Range, Dasapalla Headquarters, Nayagarh Forest Division.

The actual building of the Car starts from the Akṣaya Tṛtīyā day. The Bhois and the carpenters were the hereditary Jagirdars or rent-free land-holders and naturally therefore, they used to render free service during the entire period of construction. With the change of administration and after the abolition of the rent-free Jagir lands, they are now paid workers employed for the purpose.

The Cars of Jagannāth, Balabhadra and Subhadrā are known as Nandighoṣa, Tāladhvaja and Devadalana respectively. Nandighoṣa is a little more than 33 feet cubits high and originally had 18 wheels representing the aṣṭādaśa siddhi, or eighteen categories of spiritual success the Hindus long for. But to minimise its accident-proneness, the number of wheels has since been reduced to 16. The two other Cars do have 14 and 12 wheels attached to them respectively. The height of the Tāladhvaja and Devadalana is a little more than 32 and 31 feet cubits, respectively. The covering of the Cars used to be a wooden superstructure wrapped in cloth. Now markin cotton cloth is provided by the Government and it is dyed in different colours for the three different chariots i.e. red and golden for the Nandighoṣa, red and green for the Tāladhvaja and red and black for the Devadalana. The chariots are also painted yellow, blue and black, respectively, before they are decorated.

According to Purāṇic traditions, Nṛsiṁha guards the chariot of Jagannāth and the charioteer is Mātali. The pantheon of gods supposed to be guarding the chariots, are identified as follows –

Nandighoṣa by Varāha, Govardhana Kṛṣṇa, Gopīkṛṣṇa, Nṛsiṁha, Rāma and Nārāyana; Tāladhvaja by Gaṇeśa and Kārtikeya, Sarva Maṅgalā, Pralambaghna, Malāyudha and Mṛtyuñjaya; Devadalana by Caṇḍi, Cāmuṇḍā, Ugratārā, Vanadurgā, Śūlidurgā, Vārāhī, Syāmākālī, Maṅgalā and Vimalā. Apart from these gods and goddesses, the three chariots are guarded by a host of other gods, goddesses, demigods, and sages viz. The Nandighoṣa by Indra, Brahmā and all the seven sages including Marīci; the Tāladhvaja by Rudra, Sātyaki and eight demigods and finally the Devadalana by Śrīdevī, Bhūdevī and the eight Bhairavas.

Each of the three chariots has specific pieces of log required for its construction. According to the available accounts 832 pieces of log are required for the construction of the Nandighoṣa, whereas 763 and 593 pieces are required for the Tāladhvaja and Devadalana respectively. The different parts of the Rathas have particular names and the process of construction is complicated. There are 34 components in the whole structure which will be clear to the readers from the given drawing.

The portion of the chariot which the above picture does not reveal is the position of its Caka, or wheels fixed to Akhas or axles, to which ropes are tied for pulling the chariots. It is commonly said that ropes are tied to the chariots, but as a matter of fact these are tied to the axles or Akhas in the ordinary way.

Each pair of wheels or Cakas, is fixed to the Akha or axle. So in the case of 14 wheels, the chariot is provided with 7 axles, each one of them having a separate name for identification. The Tāladhvaja has 14 wheels and 7 axles and naturally therefore, the Nandighoṣa and Devadalana have one pair of wheels more and less, respectively, along with one more and one less axle to hold them tight at their extreme ends. Each wheel contains a number of wooden spokes keeping the central circle fixed to the outer circle of the wheel. Normally there are 16 such spokes made of Sal wood and fixed with nails. The central circle of the wheel contains a 6″ diameter hole to hold the axle. The wheel diameter of the central circle is 1:6″, the gap in between the central circle and the outer circle is 20″ after which the flat wood is 9″ wide. To keep the wooden spokes secure and to hold the inner and outer circles of the wheel together and to make it strong enough, 2 pairs of 3″ × 2″ Sal wood battens are fixed crosswise on both sides. The outer circle of the wheel normally needs 4 pieces of semicircular carved pieces of wood joined together with strong knots and bolts to fix the wheel in a perfect circular shape.

In the front of each of the three chariots, a log of wood remains fixed which is known as Āgamuhanta and which actually works as bumper or speed breaker for the car. Behind these Āgamuhantas and parallel to them, axles are fixed with wheels at their ends. The central axle is called the Nāhākā Akha. The two axles immediately on the front and back of the Nāhākās are Paḍināhākā Akhas. The two axles on the front and back of these Paḍināhākā Akhas are Bada Ujjālā Akhas and the extreme ones are known as Sāna Ujjālā Akhas. So far as the length of the axles is concerned, the Nāhākā and the two Paḍināhākā axles are of the same length. The two Bada Ujjālā axles are slightly smaller and the Sāna Ujjālā axles are still smaller in size. Each chariot has 6 kuḍukas, three on each side, and a huge block of wood almost equal to the length of the Āgamuhanta which acts as the brake. When the chariots are pulled, these brakes are held above the ground by means of ropes tied to two hooks embedded on either side of these brakes. The two other ends of the ropes are held by the persons sitting on the lower platform of the chariot which remains outside the view of the crowd assembling before the chariot. Apart from the brake operators some Bhois and carpenters, also sit within the lower platform close to each wheel to monitor its movement.

Ropes for pulling the chariots are actually wound around the Sāna Ujjālā axle. They are wound round the Bada Ujjālā axle, then around the Paḍināhākā axle and finally pass over one of the adjoining vehicle supports and their end is held tight by the Bhoi sitting at that place. This procedure is followed in respect of Sidhā Daṇḍis and Moḍa Daṇḍis, the two categories of ropes, used for pulling the chariots. Each chariot is usually dragged with four ropes, or Daṇḍis.

The construction of these chariots takes place near the palace of the king and on the Caturdaśī, preceding the Ratha Jātrā, these are dragged near the main entrance of the temple by tying ropes to the Pacha Muhanta so that when the chariots take position near the main entrance, or Siṁha Dvāra they all face northwards. This positioning of the chariots is also done with a particular strategy so that at the time of pulling them they reach the central part of the Baḍa Dāṇḍa without any trouble. The engineering details of the different components of the car are shown in the drawings appended.

The Tāladhvaja, which occupies the extreme east position in the row of the three cars, is slightly made to face north-west. Similarly the Nandighoṣa which occupies the western extreme position, is made to face slightly north-west. This strategic positioning of the cars is so designed that when dragged, they would come first to the centre of the road and then proceed northwards. So in the beginning, direction is given by waiving of flags to pull the cars slightly eastward or westward in case of the Tāladhvaja and the Nandighoṣa and then they are directed to be pulled along the centre of the Baḍa Dāṇḍa.

Traditionally after the car festival each year, the cars are dismantled leaving the horses, Sārathis and the Pārsvadevatās intact to be used in the year following.

 

Name of the Chariot	Presiding Deities	Height	Length and Breadth	No. of Wheels and their heights	Colour of the Cloth	No. of side Deities	No. of Horses and their Colour
Tāladhvaja	Shree Balabhadra	45 Feet	33’×33’	14/6’-6”	Green, Red	9 idols, the door guard Deities 2 idols	4, Black
Nandighoṣa	Shree Jagannāth	45’-6”	34’-6”×34’-6”	16/6’	Yellow, Red	9 idols, the door guard Deities 2 idols	4, White
Devadalana	Devi Subhadrā	44”-6”	31’-6”×31’-6”	12/6’-8”	Black, Red	9 idols, the door guard Deities 2 idols	4, Red

 

(This article is an excerpt from the author’s writing from the book “Car Festival of Lord Jagannath Puri”, which was also edited by the author. The said book was released by the Honourable President of India on 25-07-1994 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi. It was dedicated To The People and Nation by the Honourable Governor of Orissa on 17-08-1994 at The Universe, Cuttack.)