Posted
on July 10, 2013
During
the Hindu Chariot Festival, people carry icons of the gods in huge
chariots, through the streets, from one temple to another. This
allows the people to have a “holy view” of the gods. 
The
chariots, or ratha, are enormous wooden structures built each
year by Hindu devotees. It takes two months to build and decorate the
chariots, wooden charioteeers and horses, gods and thrones. The
chariots are painted, often in bright colors, and decorated with
flowers and designs.
Did I mention that the ratha are large? Some of the chariots rise up 45 feet tall, weigh 65 tons, and have 16 wheels. Up to 50 people have to work together to pull the ratha—plus more people supporting the arms of the thrones, and 20 more pushing from the back!
Thousands
of pilgrims come to Puri to see the Ratha Yatra. But these days there
are Chariot Festivals in other parts of the world as well. Some of
the cities where you can see some of the huge, elaborately decorated
chariots include New York City; Venice, CA (near me!); Toronto,
Canada; Paris; Budapest, Hungary; Dublin, Ireland; and London.
By
the way, some people refer to the ratha
as Chariots of the Gods. This Hindu holiday has nothing to do with
the ridiculous book by Erich von Daniken, Chariots of the
Gods, which tries to make the
point that the technologies and religions of ancient civilizations
were given to humans by alien intelligences, who were considered
gods. It's an interesting idea, but von Daniken gathered together a
lot of fraudulent misinformation,
blatant lies, and illogical arguments in order to try to convince
readers.
By
the way...
Jagannath is the “Lord of the Universe” for some Hindus.
In some ways, the Ratha Yatra
is all about Jagannath. Because there have been times when the huge chariots have not been able to stop and have accidentally crushed people during the Chariot Festival, the word juggernaut,
meaning an unstoppable force, evolved from the god's name Jagannath.
Also
on this date:
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Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July,
and July
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on August
holidays, historical
anniversaries in August,
and August
birthdays.
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