 Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 20: International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is organizing "Shree Jagannath Rath Yatra" for the fifth consecutive year in the City of Temples on April 30. This was disclosed by Navyogendra Swami while addressing a press conference here this afternoon. He said that this is the third consecutive Rath Yatra in the J&K and thousands of devotees across the State and outside are going to participate in this event.
Flanked with general secretary Press Club Jammu Zorawer Singh Jamwal, the holy seer said, "One day prior to the "Shree Jagannath Rath Yatra", Maha Aarti Utsav of the lord will be held at City Palace, Jammu on Friday from 5 pm onwards on April 29." "In this festival 56 Bhoga (foodstuffs) will be offered to the Lord," he added. "This will be followed by Gaur Aarti in which there will be an offering of 108 Aarties to Lord Jagannath, Baldeva & Subhadra. Thereafter harinaam sankirtan will be held and then dinner prasadam will be served to all devotees. "The Rath Yatra will commence from City Palace, Kachi Chhawni at 12 noon on April 30 and will pass through Parade, Shalamar, Kanak Mandi, Rajinder Bazar, Shahidi Chowk, Raghunath Mandir, Indira Chowk, Gummat, Vinayak Bazar, Canal Road, Talab Tillo, Bohri and will reach Kashmir Hills Resort, Patta Borhi Road at around 8 pm", he said, adding that Prasadam will be served to everyone thereafter. Highlighting the importance of the Rath Yatra, Swami ji said that the pulling of Rath (Cart) during the Rath yatra procession by the devotees symbolizes the attempt of the residents of Vrindavan to bring Krishna, Balarama and Subdhara back to Vrindavan from Kurukshetra. Therefore pulling the rope of the Chariot also signifies trying to bring Krishna (The Supreme Lord) back to our heart. "To give benefit to the people of the world, the founder Acharya of ISKCON, C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada introduced the Rath Yatra festival throughout the globe", he maintained. Sarvabhaum Bhattacharya Das Temple President ISKCON Jammu, Vikram Malhotra President Shree Jagannath Rath Yatra Committee, Jai Keshav Das Organizing President Shree Jagannath Rath Yatra Committee, Kuldeep Raj Dubey President Swagat Committee, Pramod Kapahi Sr Vice President Swagat Committee, Rajan Bhan General Secretary, Shree Jagannath Rath Yatra Committee and devotees of Lord Jagannath were present. |
