Amidst the entire fan fair that surrounds the mela of the Jagannath Rath Yatra, the three deities Krishna Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra make their way out of the shrine of Puri. Whether they go on vacation or to their aunt’s house or to Krishna Jagannatha’s birthplace is still a speculation on the original myth. What appears to be a complex mammoth wooden structure covered with cloth to almost look like the very temple on the move could hold far more significance than just a wooden structure that transports the Gods to their heavenly abode. It is unfortunate that the emphasis is put on the Rath Yatra or Rath Tana which starts in the afternoon and not on the invoking ceremony in the morning that is the Ratha Prathistha of the Rathas themselves.
The Rath is made to look like a temple, that which traditionally represents the original temple with a platform. The wooden platform has wheels embedded within it with ropes that get pulled by the devotees. This is no ordinary Rath, it is the very character of the Lord Jagannatha Krishna enshrined into the wood that makes up this giant structure.
What’s obvious about this Rath is the towering vimana(roof) that houses the deity within with horses that pull this chariot. What is not obvious is the shape of the floor of the Rath which is far more symbolic than a few logs of timber held together. The Rath Yatra may appear to be a joy ride for the Lord and his family on three Raths being pulled all the way for Puri Jagannath mandir with drum beats and song, with folk dance and color celebrating the journey of the Lord, but it is a little more than just all the fun.
The answer to this might be found in the Brihat Tantra Sara, a large compilation of Tantrik texts that suggest that Krishna appears as a full bloomed tantrik devata with his own yantra/mandala. This yantra has the Krishna Mantra in the center:
This mantra which is the essence describing the potency of Lord Krishna Jagannatha is the epicenter of the mandala the form of which can also be the “naksha” or floor plan of the Rath. The Rath where the main idol of Lord Krishna is kept is within the center of the floor plan. Surrounding it is an imaginary six pointed star, where the beeja mantras of Krishna, i.e. Shreem and Hrim alternate each other thrice, as part of the design of the mandala symbolic in nature and embedded within the floor and could be given life to during the morning ceremony. Scattered in logical order around the points of the hexagonal star are the letters of Sri Krishna:
Klim Kri shna ya Na mah
Within the 8 petals of the yantra is the longer mantra of Shri Krishna:
Namah Kamadeva| ya Sarvajanapriya| ya Sarvajan| sammohana| ya Jvala Prajvala| Sarvajanasya Hri|dayamavamsham| Kurukura Svaha||
Surrounding the 8 petals are the Matrikas or the letters of the sanskrit alphabet and in the angles of the protecting walls are the beeja mantras Shreem and Hrim again.
The Rath is sacred; the floor of the Rath is of a peculiar shape, a shape that has approximately 12 pointed ends which form this protective wall resembling the Krishna Mandala, and also reflects the temple ground plan on which the wooden temple stands. The sacred space between the protective external walls and the hexagonal star in the center contains the very letters of praise to Lord Jagannatha, within the lotus flower with 8 petals around the circle of potency, but what we see are a crowd of priests who are seen all over this sacred space.
This is the character of Lord Krishna Jagannatha, this is His power, and this is Him represented by the entire Rath from the floor to the shikhara of the Rath. What we see is the schematic tribal version of the Lord within this sacred space, completely decorated and seated atop his Rath, and though this vision of the Lord sits at the epicenter of this mobile throne, the very essence of the Lord is symbolized all across the flood and in the air that surrounds Him.
The Rath is the very embodiment of Lord Krishna Jagannatha and his family, it is the very element of their presence as they sway through the air purifying it with sound and light. The Lord in all his prana, housed in this very Rath drives through the Indian countryside of Puri. This land is blessed, to see the very Lord mingle with his people.
This is a fortified temple built on a hill in the 17th century, hosting Krishna, Balabhadra and Subhadra as the main shrines. It is a miniature version of Jagannath temple are Puri. A lot has changed in this temple since I last saw it. It was gorgeous when I was a young girl, in school, fascinated with anything that remotely looked like a fort with chambers and gardens, and temples with idols and flags.
We used to regularly visit this temple, every Sunday, without fail. For me it was an outing, always fresh in the mind, always beautiful and full of surprises, much as i always knew what to expect of this temple. We used to drive down every morning, around 9.30 to the temple and park the car way down near a Hanuman shrine at the bottom of the hill.
Climbing this hill was more exciting than tough. Coming to think of it, the hill was pretty small, but the climb was worth all the fun. A mud road led up to a part of the main hill which is rocky and has two kinds of staircases leading up to the main fort. Walking up the mud road was easy, and one always got to see the same old beggars lined up every morning with hope for a meal that morning from a devotee passing by. Most of them were really beggars, with leprosy and all the worlds deseases known to mankind. Apart from the road dotted with these guys, there always stood one very ancient car, the Rath of the Gods.
Painted green, I always wondered whether there was any life left in it. It definitely was not the juggernaut one would expect to see. It permanently stood inclined along its own axis, trying to maintain its center of gravity well within its frame, for it titled so badly, that I really wondered, how the pujari even dared to sit on it while they pulled it up the same hill during the mela (the only time we never visited the temple). This was a task to pull the Rath, in one piece hoping it would not fall apart like a pack of cards, leave alone moving and crushing anything on its way. It gave me no hope that it would withstand the passing of time, the pull of the ropes during the mela, forcing it to climb the inclination of the hill a few feet forward, and of course its own misplaced weight which fell on wheels that inclined a good 45 degrees, making it purely miraculous that the Rath, still stands for another mela, surely making it up the hill once again next year.
We always climbed by the rocky way, thought there was a good staircase in cement on the other side. Rocks always looked more appealing. The climb was always 10 minutes up when one came upto a courtyard, with the wind in the trees, and a stairway leading up to the main gate(picture above). This opened into a courtyard that hosted a small temple, with the shrines inside it. Cant remember too much but I remember having seen, Hanuman inside on one of the niches, and I think Garuda was the vahana outside. Brick walled and whitewashed, the interiors were bare, and dark as one walked into the main shrine lit up in lamp lights revealing the big eyes of the Gods smiling broadly at us every time. Later of course, the main temple tower got the wrath of the Gods, no it was not a canon ball that blew the roof off, but lightening that destroyed the main temple vimana, leaving a smaller one to replace it(below).
Whats interesting about this fort is the subshrines within each of the towers that protrude out of the main fort wall. These housed shrines of Hanuman, Kali and other deities all smeared with vermillion, withstanding the test of time, lightning or otherwise. This temple was worth it all, my introduction to architecture, introduction to fortification, and a remote location that just dreams can bring alive. It had everything, gods, forts, the view of the plains from the rocky hillside to see the oncoming armies march up to the hill and the main tower with the red flag for ever victorious, for ever flying... truly breathtaking!
