Varanasi’s Lord Jagannath temple reopens after 15-day ritual, Rathyatra mela set to begin

VARANASI: The millennia-old city of Varanasi plunged into the centuries-old Rathyatra Mela festivities after Lord Jagannath recovered from a fortnight-long illness, and the doors of the Jagannath Temple in the Assi locality opened for devotees on Wednesday.

Due to excessive water offerings by devotees on the full moon day of the month of Jyeshtha, Lord Jagannath fell ill. For 15 days, a special herbal drink was offered to the deity. After recovering, on the 15th day, the new moon day of the month of Ashadha, the deity regained health and appeared before the devotees in the morning.The temple's chief priest, Radhe Shyam Pandey, adorned the Lord with white garments and white flowers, offered a special ritual with Panchamrit, and conducted a grand prayer ceremony.

After the ceremony, the Panchamrit was distributed among the devotees as a sacred offering. On Wednesday, the Lord was offered parwal (pointed gourd) juice. On Thursday, the Lord's palanquin will be taken out, and from June 27 to 29, during the chariot festival, the Lord will be seated on the chariot to give darshan to the devotees.Rathyatra Mela is one such rare festival when gods come out of their sanctum sanctorum and make a round of the city to meet their devotees.

Kashi, the permanent abode of Lord Shiva, witnessed the grandeur of Lord Jagannath’s Rathyatra along with his siblings in 1802. Since then, the annual Rathyatra festivities have continued in this oldest living city, where the tradition of Rathyatra Mela as a replica of Puri’s Rathyatra Mela has been celebrated for over two centuries.The Rathyatra festival begins from Jyeshtha Purnima when Lord Jagannath falls ill due to excessive bathing at Jagannath Temple.

The deity is given herbal hot food, particularly kadha made of parwal and Tulsi, for the next 14 days. The doors of the Jagannath Temple remain closed for devotees during this period. After the deity recovers from the fortnight-long illness, the doors of the Jagannath Temple are opened for devotees. The idols of Lord Jagannath, along with his elder brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra, are placed on a palanquin and taken to Pt Beniram Bagh for a night stay.By the next evening, the chariot of the Rathyatra fair also reaches the Rathyatra road. After the idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings are placed on the chariot, devotees perform special aarti and offer prayers. After the end of the fair, the idols are taken back to the temple. The three-day Rathyatra Mela pulls a huge crowd of devotees. A splendid fair is set up in this locality with shopkeepers selling colourful artefacts, handicrafts, toys, and balloons.

Flower men sell flowers, and holy basil (Jagannath’s favourite) is sold everywhere. The special attractions are the seasonal cookie shops called ‘Nankhatai’ installed only at this time.The organiser of the Rathyatra Mela, Deepak Shapuri, who along with his brother Alok Shapuri looks after Shri Jagannath Mandir Trust, said that all the rituals of worshipping the deity in Varanasi’s Rathyatra festivities are similar to those of the Jagannath Temple of Puri. The tradition was started by the then chief priest of Puri Jagannath Temple, Tejonidhi Brahmchari, who moved to Varanasi from Puri.