For so long, Jagannath Rath Yatra or the most famous Jagannath car festival of Puri in Orissa has been one of the biggest festivals in India. This is a spectacular and highly significant event carrying a lot of cultural, religious and social significance. Multitudes of people throng at the city of Puri to view the grandest chariot procession in the country. The several legends associated with the Rath Yatra of Puri capture the imaginations of the humans around the globe. Here are some highly interesting facts about the Jagannath Rath Yatra. Jagannath Rath Yatra interesting facts <ul><li>As practiced in a few other orthodox Hindu temples, none other than Hindus will be allowed to enter the gates of the Jagannath temple in Puri to view the deities and offer worship. However, the entry is open to anyone irrespective of caste and religion during the Jagannath Rath Yatra. During this festival time, all people can worship the Lord and receive his blessings. </li><li>The Rath yatra sees the procession of three independent chariots for the three deities of Jagannath, Balarama and Shubadra. Hence this event is also called the festival of chariots. The names of these three chariots are Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Devadalana. </li><li>Nandigosha is the chariot of Jagannath that is set on 18 wheels. Taladwaja, the chariot of Balarama runs on 16 wheels and 14 wheels roll the chariot Padmadhwaja in which Shubadra parades. </li><li>The most astonishing facts about the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is that all the three chariots are constructed anew year after year prior to the festival. The construction makes use of newer materials as the years go by. However, the structure, model, design and measurements of the chariot remain the same. In front of each chariot, four wooden horses are fixed. </li><li>The chariot tops replicate the structure of the temple towers built in the North Indian style. Hundreds of pilgrims and devotees pull the massive sized chariots with sturdy ropes. This creates an awe inspiring sight for the onlookers. For making the canopies of the chariots, about 1200 meters of cloth is used. A team of 15 skilled tailors make the canopies. </li><li>As per the traditional belief, the king of Puri sweeps the floor with a broom stick before the chariots move forward thus providing a royal procession to the Lord with his accomplices. </li><li>When the festival begins, Lord Jagannath seems to refuse moving out. Despite the efforts of the crowds, the chariot cannot be moved even an inch forward. After a few hours of mammoth efforts, finally the chariot moves forward to trigger the procession’s onward march. </li><li>There is an interesting story behind the chariot festival. It is said Lord Jagannath catches high fever year on year prior to the Rath yatra. Hence he is given rest for a period of one week before the chariot festival. The temple doors remain shut for the public and none is allowed to disturb the resting Lord during this period. The chariot procession comes as a change for the Lord to visit his maternal aunt’s house after he recovers from his fever. </li></ul>

8 Interesting facts about Jagannath Rath Yatra

New Delhi, Jun 19 () A plea was Friday filed in the Supreme Court seeking recall of its order staying this year's historic Puri Rath Yatra, which is attended by lakhs of people from across the world and was to start from June 23, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde had Thursday said that in the interest of public health and safety of citizens, this year's Rath Yatra at Puri in Odisha can't be allowed and "Lord Jagannath won't forgive us if we allow" it. The plea filed in the top court has sought recall and modification of its June 18 order saying the festival is deeply associated to the religious beliefs of millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath and it is "not impossible and impracticable" for the state and district administration to conduct Rath Yatra by maintaining social distancing and following the Centre's guidelines. "Under the above facts and circumstances the applicant most humbly prayed that the order dated June 18, 2020 as passed by this court may be recalled and modified to the extent that the Rath Yatra ritual may be performed with the help of 500-600 servitors by following the guidelines, maintaining the social distance and with certain impositions and conditions," said the plea filed by 'Jagannath Sanskruti Jana Jagarana Manch'. The plea, filed through advocate Hitendra Nath Rath, said that as per earlier direction of the Orissa High Court as well as decision of the state government, 372 persons were engaged in the construction of three Raths/chariots for more than one and half months and all were isolated, tested and found COVID-19 negative. It said these persons have constructed the Raths by following the guidelines of Central government and maintained social distancing and proper sanitization. While the Rath Yatra festival, held over 10-12 days with lakhs of people participating, was scheduled for June 23, the 'Bahuda Jatra' (return car festival) was fixed for July 1. Three heavily built wooden chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are traditionally pulled by thousands of devotees over a distance of three kilometres twice during the nine-day festival of the Trinity at Puri. The plea seeking recall of the order has further said that 'Deba Snana Purnima' ritual was performed on June 5 with the help of 800 servitors, who all were tested and found COVID-19 negative."The distance of the Puri Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Temple is three Km distance and social distancing can be maintained by 500-600 persons in the three Km distance," the plea said, adding that a total of 500 to 600 persons are required for pulling the Raths. The plea, which said that Puri municipality is categorised as 'Green zone', claimed that these facts were not placed before the court during the hearing on Thursday. "Under the above facts and circumstances, it is not impossible and impracticable for the state government and the district administration to conduct the Rath Yatra by maintaining the social distancing and following the guidelines of the Central government and the state government," it said. "The Rath Yatra can be performed with the help of 500-600 servitors by maintaining social distance on the road of three km stretch and by imposing the restrictions as well as imposing section 144 of the CrPC," it said. The plea said that the Rath Yatra has been performed since time immemorial and the sentiments of millions of devotees are attached to the same. The top court's June 18 order had came on a PIL filed by an Odisha-based NGO seeking cancellation or postponement of this year's Rath Yatra. Two pleas have been moved in the apex court seeking to cancel or postponement of the historic 'Rath Yatra'. Besides the PIL filed by the NGO, 'Odisha Vikas Parishad', seeking stay on holding of the annual festival, an appeal has been moved by one Surendra Panigrahi of 'Bhartiya Bikash Parishad' against the Orissa High Court order of June 9 which had asked the state government to decide on holding the 'Rath Yatra' festival in line with the COVID-19 guidelines. ABA MNL SJK ABA RKS RKS

Plea in SC seeks recall of order staying Puri Rath Yatra due to COVID-19

With over 900 million believers and many faithful, and innumerable ‘holy’ places, Hindu <keyword id="56253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Temples" source="Orion">temples</keyword> are neither short of footfalls nor donations. So much so when <keyword id="419623" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tirumala-Tirupati" source="Orion">Tirumala Tirupati</keyword> Devasthanam declared that its land holdings are valued at ₹85,000 crore (modestly) across 960 properties all over India — few were surprised. After all, the <keyword id="721647" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lord-Venkateshwara-temple" source="Orion">Lord Venkateshwara temple</keyword> makes <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/siddhivinayak-hundi-rich-temple-india-demonetisation-352322-2016-11-16">$11 million a year</a> selling its ladoos alone, in addition to the thousands who queue up every day and make generous donations. <div type="image" title="Venkateshwara temple makes $11 million a year selling ladoos alone" height="900" width="1200" msid="94550183" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Venkateshwara temple makes $11 million a year selling ladoos alone&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> From the gilded era Tirupati has a long history of generous donations. A 16th century king Krishnadevaraya who ruled over erstwhile Andhra and Karnataka is known to have performed an ‘abhishekham’ with 30,000 gold coins instead of the traditional bathing with milk — in addition to other gold ornaments he donated. <div type="image" title="Tirupati temple has a long history of generous donations" msid="94550258" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Tirupati temple has a long history of generous donations&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Tirupati has been holding on to the richest temple tag for generations till it was displaced by Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, with an estimated $20 billion lying in its vaults. <div type="image" title="Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala has an estimated $20 billion lying in its vaults" height="900" width="1200" msid="94550303" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala has an estimated $20 billion lying in its vaults&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Some of the treasures uncovered include 1.2 metre solid gold statues studded with precious stones, crowns and countless artefacts. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-wealth-amicus-curiae-finds-serious-lapses-wants-audit/articleshow/33963351.cms?from=mdr">amicus curiae </a>petition was filed in the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-wealth-amicus-curiae-finds-serious-lapses-wants-audit/articleshow/33963351.cms?from=mdr">Supreme Court, </a>which wanted a scientific audit on the treasures. And a few vaults are still unopened, deepening the mystery of this temple’s wealth. The 12th century temple Shree Jagannath of Puri too is moving to digitise its land records and said that it possesses over <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/land-records-of-lord-jagannaths-over-60000-acres-in-7-states-to-be-digitised/articleshow/94497919.cms">60,000 acres across seven states.</a> <div type="image" title="Jagannath temple in Puri" height="900" width="1200" msid="94550358" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jagannath temple in Puri&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Built by kings and patronised by their subjects, many Indian temples possess lands, mostly farm lands – to support their upkeep. Most old and large temples receive ample donations in cash and gold that have been filling their Hundis and coffers over the centuries. Endowment bodies are private entities and never had to reveal their wealth, few can guess the extent of cash and gold holdings. Apart from a few details that have become public, very few have ventured to estimate temple wealth. In 2016, the World Gold Council estimated that the gold lying in Indian<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/temples-hold-about-4-000-tonnes-of-gold-116032400306_1.html"> temples could be as high as 4,000 tonnes</a> — that’s over a fifth of the total gold holdings of the country. Cash, stocks or bonds? The cash that temples receive from Hundis remains enormous. Temples are known to employ large teams to sort and count them and some have even fashioned giant sieves that can sift coins. As the number of financial instruments increase, temple trusts too have expanded their ‘accounts’ to easily receive all sorts of donations. In 2015, Lord Balaji opened his own demat account to receive stocks and bonds. Following Him, are many temple trusts including Vaishno Devi temple, Swaminarayan Temple of Ahmedabad, Srinathji Temple of Nathdwara, Iskon Charities, Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain, to name a few. In addition to easing the process of ‘offerings’ in an increasingly cash-free society, this move also helps people turn Gods into their business partners with a small stake. Like in the case of gold, no information is proffered on how much stock trusts hold and if they are traded. What’s the wealth going to do? Legend has it that all that goes into Lord Balaji’s Hundi is used to pay off the interest for a loan that he took from Kubera, the God of wealth, and this payoff will continue till the end of Kali Yug. In reality, it’s the trustees who decide what is to be done with the wealth. And, what do temples do with the wealth? It takes a lot to maintain a temple. Large temples employ a range of staff – be it priests, security guards, cleaning staff and accountants, some temples even have a large administrative staff to manage the finances and more. Moreover, temples hold large events like Navratri festivals, pujas or annual processions like rath yatras. A few temples also cook and serve prasad like the Iskcon temple which offers an elaborate lunch-like prasad on a daily basis. <div type="image" title="Krishna Janmashtami at Iskon temple in Juhu, Mumbai" msid="94550472" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Krishna Janmashtami at Iskon temple in Juhu, Mumbai&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> A few temple trusts also run charitable organisations like schools, colleges, hospitals and even orphanages – so a lot of money goes into that too. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a few temple trusts like Puri’s Shree Jagannath Temple Administration donated in cash while many others provided facilities for quarantine facilities, beds and even Oxygen tanks. All in all – trusts also contribute towards welfare activities. The temples also reserve some of its wealth for a rainy day. During the lockdown, when temples shut doors, a lot of them which depended on daily cash donations <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/26/1200-hindu-temples-india-will-pawn-gold-maintain-running-costs/">had to pawn their gold to maintain</a> the running costs. The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages Kerala’s temples, had deposited some of its gold with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a loan after selling unused lamps and a few brass utensils. The temple and the state Temple priests, seers and Kings always maintained a healthy mutual relationship – some of the former also adorned the courts and were trusted advisors. Tensions however emerged after monarchy and the battle lines were drawn between the church and the state. The first clash occurred in the early 1800s when the East India Company (EIC) demanded a tribute from the Queen of Travancore – the royal family which is now the trustee of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple. As she failed to provide ‘protection money’, the company took over the temple trusts in the region. This passed onto the British crown who later drafted a Madras Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, which later became the The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act – that controls a few hundreds of thousands of temple trusts, mutts and endowments. It is to be noted that the Madras Presidency covered large parts of Tamil Nadu in addition to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and even Kerala — till date, a few hundreds of thousands of temples are directly under government control. In fact, some of the richest trusts including Tirupati, Meenakshi temple of Madurai, Shirdi Sai Baba temple and Siddhi Vinayak <a href="https://asiaconverge.com/2020/09/indian-governments-outdid-aurangzeb-they-emasculated-hindu-temples/">fall under the government control</a>. IAS officers act <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/shirdi-saibaba-trust-ias-official-4560862/">as temple trustees in many temples</a> across states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which appointed an IAS officer to the <a href="https://theprint.in/india/nripendra-misra-modis-trusted-former-ias-officer-will-head-ram-temple-construction-panel/368134/">Ayodhya’s Ram temple trust</a>. The trust with the government There have been multiple attempts to bring more trusts under the government’s purview and a few of them have been resisting in multiple ways. The most high profile case has been that of <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/nataraja-temple-to-be-managed-by-priest-not-by-tamil-nadu-govt-114010600610_1.html">Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram Trust and the state government</a> of Tamil Nadu where the court ruled in favour of the trust. The pre-Chola temple where the statue of Shiva itself remains elusive – known as the ‘secret’ – had resisted the state government attempt to take over the trust. A similar attempt at a takeover of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple trust temple, with treasures that are worth hundreds of billions, by the state government — <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/supreme-court-sets-aside-kerala-hc-order-on-government-takeover-of-padmanabhaswamy-temple-5540371.html">was stalled by the Apex court</a>. Yet another case involves the <a href="https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/vaishno-devi-shrine-board-funds-were-used-for-iftaar-parties">Vaishno Devi temple, </a>where a petition was filed challenging the government control of the shrine. The Karnataka government however wants to do away <a href="https://www.timesnownews.com/india/karnataka-to-do-away-with-government-control-over-temples-says-cm-bommai-in-budget-speech-article-89990133">with its control over temple trusts</a>, said the chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in March this year. If they do so, they would create a precedent where more endowments would seek autonomy – leaving one of India’s high-profile asset owners with more control of their vaults and all that therein.

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8 Interesting facts about Jagannath Rath Yatra

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Plea in SC seeks recall of order staying Puri Rath Yatra due to COVID-19

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