The Jagannath Rath Yatra, organized by the Nagpur center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Shri Shri Radha Gopinath Mandir, was celebrated with great pomp and devotion. The event commenced at 4:30 AM with Mangala Aarti at the temple. This was followed by the divine decoration (Shringar) of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Mother Subhadra, to whom Chhappan Bhog (56 varieties of offerings) were presented.
Afterward, the deities were brought in a specially decorated vehicle in a grand procession from the temple to Mayo Hospital Chowk, where Maharashtra Legislative Council Member Parinay Fuke welcomed the deities, took their darshan, and received blessings. The deities were then ceremoniously enthroned in a grand and beautifully adorned chariot. Another Chhappan Bhog was offered there.
All esteemed guests then performed aarti with devotion. Prominent among them were Kartik Shende, Avinash Shinde, Dipen Agrawal, Puneet Ramkrishna Poddar, Pawan Poddar, Kishan Jhaver, Ramesh Pasari, Ashok Goel, Ratan Poddar, Anand Poddar, Raju Itkelwar, Manoj Itkelwar, Vijay Dangre, Dr. Madhusudan Sarda, Jugal Kishore Maniyar, Bhupen Chelani, Pushpa Dudhe, Pannalal Sahu, Arun Harode, Prashant Pattiwar, Sanjeev Bhusari, Sunita Agrawal, Nitin Khungar, Nilesh Suchak, Vivek Kunawar, Dr. Girish Charde, Nishant Agnihotri, Sonali Shukla, Kamlesh Chanchlani, Abhishek Agrawal, Ashok Jawani, Rajesh Parekh family, Jitendra Dawda, Namita Mishra family, Anita Parwani, Satish Goel, Sandeep Agrawal, Vishal Jaiswal, Seema Agrawal, Pramod Agrawal, Dheeraj Agrawal, Nidhi Mohta, Rajesh Agrawal, DCP Mehak Swami, ACP Anita More, Vishnu Vyas, Priyanka Mohan, Ravi Chilate, and Ravi Jagale, among others.
Following the aarti, Jay Prakash Gupta, Sanjay Handa, and others placed camphor on coconuts and broke them to inaugurate the chariot journey. As soon as the chariot began moving, the entire route echoed with thunderous chants of “Jai Jagannath” and “Haribol”, filling the atmosphere with devotion.
The Rath Yatra route covered Agresan Chowk, Gandhi Bagh Chowk, Tanga Stand Chowk, Gandhi Putla Chowk, Bachhraj Vyas (Badkas) Chowk, Chitnis Park, Tilak Road, Thadeshwari Mandir Chowk, Agyaram Devi Chowk, and Cotton Market Chowk before returning to the ISKCON temple.
Throughout the route, devotees welcomed the Lord with flower showers, kirtan, and dance. ISKCON’s most revered HH Krishna Chaitanya Swami Maharaj personally graced the Yatra and led a beautiful kirtan. Along with him, devotees Hari Kirtan Prabhu and Anantashesha Prabhu, and many others, chanted the Hare Krishna Mahamantra loudly and devotionally:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
ISKCON spokesperson Dr. Shyamsunder Sharma informed that various services were arranged along the route: Delicious peda was distributed by Ram Bhandar, Cool sherbet was served by Narendra Manekar’s family, Cold ice cream was distributed by Sai Ice Cream, Khichdi Mahaprasad was provided by Tirupati Electronics, Shanti Dairy also served sherbet to quench the thirst of devotees. Water bottles were distributed by Vanamali Prabhu, a highly commendable effort.
At several junctions, devotees performed special aarti and offered bhog. Notable among them: At Central Avenue: Ramesh Randhad, Purushottam Malu, At Mahal: Girish Vyas, Praveen Datke, Naresh Jumani, Dr. Suresh Chandak, Manoj Tiwari, Kishore Patil, Kripal Singh, Rahul Asre, Shreesagar, Amol Topre, Laxman Ramrakyani, Om Chaudhary, and others.
As the chariot entered the temple premises, Lord Indra welcomed Lord Jagannath with a gentle drizzle. Immediately after the conclusion, in the presence of Shashikant Manapure, the Sharad Khandelwal family distributed Sonpapdi to all devotees.
Upon entering the temple, former Member of Parliament Ajay Sancheti, along with his family, performed the traditional worship of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Mother Subhadra and received blessings.
At the same time, HH Krishna Chaitanya Swami Maharaj gave a soul-enriching narration of the Jagannath katha to all devotees, which was translated from English to Hindi by Pran Nath Prabhu.
The program concluded with the serving of Mahaprasad to all attendees.
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