2020 has been a year of transformation, departure from old ways of living and adjusting to the new that presents itself to us everyday. Rath Yatra 2020 created History with an empty Bada Danda where the chariots rolled without swaying crowds, reverberation of traditional musical instruments or chants of ‘Jay Jagannath’. All people could see on their television screens and mobile phones were servitors pulling the chariots and platoons of security personnel and police force creating a huge gherao around the chariots. After weeks of deliberations and protests post the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Stay Order on Rath Yatra in view of the COVID-19 situation in Odisha, the festival did happen with Section 144 CrPC enforced in Puri.
But Rath Yatra is not a one-day festival. It lasts little more than a week and the return journey of the sibling deities is yet another extravaganza. Bahuda Jatra, where the chariots start moving in the southern direction (Dakhina Muhana), involves a host of rituals like Rath Yatra including Mangalarpana and later Niladri Bije and Suna Besha. The district administration announced a 48 hour curfew in Puri from June 30 to July 2 and deployed 70 platoons of police force and 400 officers. The roads leading to Bada Danda were sealed and Collector Balwant Singh requested people via a video on Twitter to not venture out of their houses and refrain from entering or leaving the town during the shutdown.
Though religious congregations have been banned in India and Odisha has not given a go-ahead to reopen religious places, the centuries old tradition was carried out without devotees. Rath Yatra holds high spiritual merit as it's the only time in the year that the deities come out of their abode and give an exclusive darshan to their devotees - including people from other religions and faiths. That makes Jagannath and his siblings quite unique considering there’s no such ritual anywhere in the world of deities coming out of their temples, moving amidst a sea of devotees, revelling in their devotion and staying at another temple for nine days. The whole premise surrounding the festival is allowing Jagannath’s devotees from all over the world to see him live since non-Hindus are not permitted inside the temple.
The whole of Puri considers Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra as their family. Sri Gundicha Temple is the birthplace of the sibling deities and Rath Yatra is reminiscent of them coming to a temple of their own. Before returning, they promised Devi Gundicha that they will be visiting her and their birthplace every year. The familial connection is ever-present in the pilgrim town and any change in it sends shock waves in the whole of Puri district. There have been cancellations or secret conduction of Rath Yatra when a series of invasions rocked Puri and the temple in the 18th century. But never before had there been a Chariot Festival without devotees on a scorching hot, empty Bada Danda without devotees bringing in their love and enthusiasm that is the hallmark of the Jagannath Consciousness.
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