Rites and Rituals of the Car Festival of Lord Jagannath
According to the Padma Purāṇa, the Car festival ought to take place on the Śukla Dvitīyā of the month Āṣāḍha when the predominant star is Puṣyā. If it so happens that on the Śukla Dvitīyā, Puṣyā does not join the constellation, this exception may be neglected and the Ratha Jātrā be observed.
The Car festival is the most colourful of all the festivals held in the temple centering round Lord Jagannath. It starts with Snāna Jātrā and runs through Aṇasara, Netra Utsava, Nava Yauvana Darśana and ends with his Pahaṇḍī Vijay or proceeding to the chariots in a procession.
Two weeks before the commencement of the Car Festival, on the day of full moon in Jyeṣṭha, Snāna Jātrā or the bathing ceremony is observed. The wooden deities are taken to the Snāna Mandap or Snāna Vedi (bathing platform) in a procession and installed there. The Snāna Vedi or Platform is a raised masonry work visible from outside the temple approximately 30 feet high from the ground. The bathing ceremony of the deities requires the assistance of about 16 categories of additional sevakas and the entire Snāna Jātrā indicates the beginning of the Ratha Jātrā festival. Due to the pouring of 108 pots of water on the painted wooden deities, the idols get defaced to a great extent and therefore, visitors are not allowed to see and pay homage for a period of 15 days, which is known as ‘Aṇasara’ or ‘Anavasara’ time. It is so said that Lord Jagannath had dictated to the king Indradyumna that just after the Snāna Jātrā
tataḥ pañcadaśāhāni snāpaitvā tu mām nripa
aktāṅgaṁ vā virūpāṅgaṁ na paśyeta kadācana
So O’ king, a fortnight past my bath,
before facial and manicure
none be allowed to watch.
On the expiry of this period one day before when the deities have been made completely ready for allowing ‘darśana’ to the devotees, a function is observed, called Netrotsava, when devotees in hundreds of thousands enter the temple and see the deities on the Ratnavedi, or the main platform.
On the morning of Ratha Jātrā, the cars of Jagannath, Subhadrā and Balarāma stand in order from the Aruṇa Stambha on the Baḍa Dāṇḍa, the grand road facing the Guṇḍicā temple. Then after the prescribed ‘rites’ inside the temples pahaṇḍi vijay starts. In other words the deities are made to move to their cars, one after the other in a rhythmic style in tune with hundreds of musical instruments, mainly gongs, drums, and conch shells amid ecstatic cries of ‘Jai Jagannath’.
Pahandi has been corrupted from the Sanskrit word ‘Padahinda’ (derived from the root ‘hind’ to go) when the deities are made to climb down the 22 steps of the Śrī Mandir and helped proceed to their respective cars, they are tightly bound by silken cords and much care is exercised during the whole process. Although we talk of the holy trinity of Jagannath, Balarāma and Subhadrā, as a matter of fact, four deities combinedly known as Caturdhā are taken to the cars, which include Sudarśana along with the Trinity. The following śloka will make it clear how the Caturdhā Mūrttī is carried to the cars.
Sudarśanam puraskritya Balabhadram tataḥ param Subhadrāṁ ca tato nītvā Jagadīśaṁ sureśvaram.
Installation of all the deities in the cars takes usually a longer period than prescribed by the administrative authorities. It is worth mentioning here that such a colossal ceremony cannot be handled by the temple administration alone. It demands the control of millions of pilgrims who assemble at Puri during the festival. The state, Public Health Department and the police force in collaboration with the local bodies draw up a well-coordinated programme to avoid any untoward incident. Special security arrangements are made by the Police Department and the ritual part is supervised by the State and Temple Administration in collaboration with some other organisations, associations and individuals apart from Sevakas responsible for their particular functions.
When the Caturdhā Mūrttī is placed on the cars, the Gajapati King of Puri arrives there in a procession. He ascends the cars to perform ‘Cherā Paṁharā’ which actually means cleaning the chariots with the help of a golden broomstick. This symbolic action exhibits that the King of Puri is himself the principal servant or Mukhya Sevaka of the deities of Śrī Mandir.
The distance of the Guṇḍicā temple (according to Dr. Mahtab, ‘Guṇḍicā’ is a corrupt form of the Dravidian word ‘Guddisā’ meaning temple. ‘Glimpses of Orissa Art and Culture’. Golden Jubilee Vol. of the Orissa Historical Research Journal 1984, page-24) from the main gate of Śrī Mandir is about 3 kms; but the chariot takes 6 to 24 hours to reach their destination. Apart from unusual delays in starting the Pahaṇḍi, the chariots sometimes meet with accident on several occasions. It is common knowledge that from the day of Snāna Jātrā to Ratha Jātrā, the Daitās, descendants of the śavaras remain in charge of the deities. From the day of Netrotsava up to Pahaṇḍi they facilitate the darśana of the deities and the traditional rites are normally delayed. In spite of the well-coordinated effort of different functionaries of the State, local bodies and influential individuals, adherence to the time schedule is an exception, rather than the rule.
The history of Puri has it that even during the 13th century a rivulet named Mālinī bisected the Baḍa Dāṇḍa near about the Guṇḍicā Maṇḍap. Two sets of chariots were therefore in use to carry the deities to the Guṇḍicā temple after ferrying them over the Mālinī by boats. In course of time the rivulet got shifted and only one set of chariots were necessary to carry the deities from the Śrī Mandir to the Guṇḍicā Maṇḍap.
The deities remain in the Guṇḍicā Vedi where they were first carved out of logs floating in the sea, for nine days. All the rites are observed there as usual. The Pañcamī after the Śukla Dvitīyā is known as Herā Pañcamī when the Goddess Lakṣmī goes in a procession to the Guṇḍicā temple to see (Herā means to see) Lord Jagannath. On her arrival there, the Sevakas of Lord Jagannath close the door. Lakṣmī becomes enraged and while returning disappointed causes some damage to the chariot. She then arrives near the Herāgohiri sahi where ritual offerings are made to her.
As the Ratha Jātrā is held in Śukla Dvitīyā, the Bāhudā or Punarjātrā (the return car festival) has to be observed on the Śukla Dasami seven days later. On the tenth day the Return Car Festival starts with the same pomp and splendour. It is known as ‘Bāhudā’ or coming back to the temple, after which the chariots are dismantled excepting the Pārśva Devatās, horses and Sārathi. These are maintained carefully till the Nava Kalevara year. In that year a new set of these images are also carved out. On the day of Bāhudā or the Return Car Festival, Lakṣmī proceeds in a palanquin to meet Jagannath near the Palace gate. Then a garland from the body of Lord Jagannath is taken out and placed on the Goddess Lakṣmī after which some rituals known as Vandāpanā are performed there. Then the return journey is resumed and the chariots reach the main gate.
There is a dictum in Hindu mythology that whosoever has a glimpse of Lord Jagannath (Vāmana) on his chariot gets salvation going beyond the cycle of transmigration. In other words the onlooker attains Mokṣa once he or she has a chance to see him on the Chariot. May be, this belief draws devotees in millions to Puri on the day of Ratha Jātrā and the multitude of pilgrims cuts across caste and creed of our multicultural Indian society. The sea of humanity from the Aruṇa Stambha to the Guṇḍicā Vedi is a pointer to the fact that the black face of Lord Jagannath with his white round eyes having jet-black pupils within, has a magnetic attraction which not only Indians, but even foreigners can never evade.
(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.)