Devotees in Jagan Nath Rath yatra

"Puri is the seat of Lord Jagannath, the Lord of Universe. This place is an important religious centre for hindus. The sanctity of the place is well known to all the pilgrims of the world. The town being situated on the sea beach of the Bay of Bengal.The entire Ratha Yatra is a symbolic humanisation of God. All rituals associated with the festival demonstrate an attempt to bring the God down from His pedestal of glory to a more human level. On the day of journey the three chariots the yellow coloured Nandighosa, blue coloured Taladwaja and Deviratha are lined up in front of the temple and then the deities are brought on to their respective Chariots. Once the king of Puri sweeps the chariots with scented water and golden broom, the pilgrims lined up with the rope pull the chariots on the Badadanda to Gundicha Ghar. People around the globe are becoming attracted to the joyful and colorful Rath yatra festival. Thousands throng the streets to pull the giant chariots, chant and dance and enjoy tasty prasad given to all joining in a celebration to honor the appearance of Lord Jagannath, Baladev and SubhadraThe huge, colourfully decorated chariots, are drawn by hundreds and thousands of devotees on the bada danda, the grand avenue to the Gundicha temple, some two miles away to the North.Though this festival time is very special in India, the main Rath Yatra takes place in the holy town of Puri. At other places, those devotees of Lord Jagannath Temple, who cannot make it to Puri, take out similar processions on a much smaller scale. Notable are the ones at Ramnagar (near Varanasi), Serampore (near Calcutta) and Jagannathpur (near Ranchi).

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