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The Second Jagannath Ratha yatra in Yogyakarta
The peak of the 259th Anniversary celebrations of Yogyakarta was flooded by millions of people who wanted to see the cultural parade on Wednesday, October 7, 2015. Four thousands participant participated in the parade. They performed traditional dances, classic dances, and modern dances attractively along the main street of Yogyakarta. The participants were not only from the areas of Yogyakarta but also from other areas in Nusantara. The committee also invited groups of art and communities in Yogyakarta. They also invited the Narayana Smerti Asram to participate in the celebration because they impressed to the performance of the devotees last year on the last Ratha yatra in commemorating The World Tourism Day.
“Make the Ratha-yatra festival very great success. This will be a great introduction in your city and people will appreciate it” SPL to Syamasundara, 4th May, 1967
The devotees in Jogjakarta informed the blissful news in ratha yatra group in social media and soon became the top issues to discuss. Many devotees felt sad because the ratha yatra took place on working day but some also said that they would arrange office leave for the ratha yatra.
There are small number devotees in Jogjakarta. Most of them are students. But their enthusiasm to do devotional service to the Lord is bigger that their number. They made coordination with the devotees from all around Indonesia through social media. Even though many devotees could not come to Jogjakarta, they still sent their donation to help the financial of the festival.
A day before festival the chariot teams arrived from Jember. They prepare the chariot at Garuda prabhu house where the chariot is kept. The devotees who already arrived help them in preparing the chariot. Because the team already expert in reassembling the chariot, they could finish in short of time. It needed one hour to drag the chariot from Bantul to Jogjakarta. The chariot was decorated with colorful lamp because the parade would start in the evening.
At 03.00 pm the devotees checked the preparation of the festival. The guests who came from the Hindu students started to arrive. The special guest who came to the ratha yatra was, Mr. Ida Bagus Wika Krishna, Director of Hindu Society and counselor Jogjakarta. The hindu parisad of Jogjakarta also came to the festival. They were happy to participate in the ratha yatra. The melodious bhajans were sung by devotees before the ratha yatra ceremony started. H.H. BHaktiragava Swami arrived at 04.00 PM and opened the ratha yatra with a short speech. Maharaj said that this ratha yatra was introduced by our founder acharya HDG.A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Maharaj also said that this year is the 50th year arrival of Srila Prabhupa in America. Then Srila Prabhupada introduced the first ratha yatra outside India two years after he arrived. Maharaj also said that by observing more ratha yatras we could gave more chances to the people to do devotional service. On his speech, Mr. Ida Bagus Wika Krishna said that this was the second time he participated in the rataha yatra in Yogyakarata. He expressed his happiness and he would come to every the ratha yatra in Yogyakarta if the devotees informed him. The last speech was given by H.H. Subhag Swami Maharaj through telephone from India. Maharaj was very happy that the devotees in Indonesia were eagerly and enthusiastically did ratha yatra to satisfiy the Lord and Srila Prabhupada. As sila prabhupada wrote in his letter that “The faith increases in Krsna consciousness by our voluntary increase of serving Krsna. Serving Krsna is unlimited and He can accept our unlimited service, and award us unlimited transcendental pleasure in the unlimited service of the Lord…..” (SPL to Brahmananda, 20th February, 1968).
The arati was done by H.H. Bhakti Ragava Swami and many people gathered in front of the chariot just to see the ceremonial, but indirectly they were darsan to the lord. This was the Lord mercy to all people in Yogyakarta. Some of them kept the moment by taking pictures in front of the chariot. After the arati, the Lord was offered coconut by the guests and it was the sign that the ratha yatra was begun. While waiting the start, the devotees distributed the prasadam to the people and the guest. They honored the prasadam happily.
Many participants from various area and departments in Jogjakarata gather in the front of the chariot to wait their turn to perform. They were impressed by the glow of the Lord chariot. They were really curious about the chariot and what was on the chariot. They approached one devotees and asked about it. The devotees explained it in nice words that they could understand the festival. As Srila Prabhupada wrote in his letter that “….if simply by narrating the crucifixion incident of Lord Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic religion can spread to such a wide area of the world, how much there is great potency of spreading our Krsna consciousness by depicting hundreds of thousands of such incidents like Ratha-yatra.” (SPL to Aniruddha, 7th July, 1968).
At 07.00 the devotees started pulling the Lord. Because of the small number of the devotees, the chariot was pulled by the Hindu students and the local Hindu societies. The prabhus did kirtan and the matajis danced in front of the chariot. The melodious kirtan was led by Nimai brahmacari. He sang Hare Krishna Maha Mantra along the way and many audience participated to sing and dance with the devotees. They were very happy to hear the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra event they were from other fait because Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is beyond of material barrier and could enter easily to the heart of the people. As Srila Prabhupada wrote in his letter “And if there is chanting of Hare Krsna, even the soul is there for a short time, Oh! he will hear and become advanced. This sound vibration is not material, it is spiritual and powerful beyond our conception. So it cannot be hindered in any way by something material; it surpasses all these material barriers”. SPL to Mukunda and Janaki, 28th February, 1968.
Arriving in the honor stage, the devotees performed rasa dance and the announcer recognized the devotees by seeing the chariot. They said that this rtaha yatra is always taking part in cultural parade in Jogjakarta. When they read the synopsis of the ratha yatra, they were confuse by the synopsis that said Lord Krishna and His brother Blaram And His sister Subadra Devi on the chariot, but they could not find such beautiful Krishna figure as they know on the chariot. They just saw three primitive idols on the chariot. They asked where is Krishna? The chariot passed and they were left with their mystery in their mind. On the behalves of the devotees Adi Purusa Prabhu gave flowers garlan that already offered to Lord Jagannath and Srimad Bhagavatam to the governor of Jogjakarta, Mr. Hamangku Bhuono X, and the mayor of Jogjakarta.
Along the eyes sight only crowded people could be seen. They sang and danced when the chariot passed in front of them. Many of them took pictures and videos. They also received maha prasadam from the devotees. A ton of orange was donated by Dhina Darini mataji and distributed along the route of the parade. The devotees also did book distribution.
We hope that Prabhupad is pleased and bless the devotees who organize such a wonderful Ratha-yatra. Srila Prabhupada mentioned in his letter that “ I thank you all very much for making the rathayatra festival so successful. Please convey my gratitude to all the boys and girls who participated in this great transcendental service.”(SPL to Upendra, 4th July 1968). He also blessed all devotees as he stated in his other letter that “may Krishna bless you all for your sincere service that you may all go on making more and more advancement in Krishna Consciousness.” (SPL to Jayananda das, 19th July, 1976).
We would like to take this opportunity to thank HH Bhakti Raghava Swami for his blessings and encouragement which were so essential for the devotees. Our ever grateful obeisances are due to HH Kavichandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, the GBCs of Indonesia, for their support and guidance to always look for new avenues for sankirtan. Our humble obeisances to HH Subhag Swami for always reminding us of the importance of the Sankirtan movement of Mahaprabu and inspiring us with the dedication of Sriman Jayananda Prabhu, for bringing us closer to Srila Prabhupada and keeping us united in family of ISKCON. Our gratitude to Hindu Society and counselor of Jogjakarta and The hindu parisad of Jogjakarta who always facilitate and support the devotees in many ways. Our gratitude to all of Jogjakarta devotees who worked hard for the success of the festival.