When is Rath Yatra?
The answer
Monday, 5 July 2027
Jagannath's chariots, Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Ashadha Shukla 2
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Saturday, 24 June 2028
Ashadha Shukla 2
Friday, 13 July 2029
Ashadha Shukla 2
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya — the Rath Yatra at Puri. It is the one great festival in India where the deity leaves the temple and comes into the street, and the meaning follows from that: those who cannot enter the sanctum have the god come to them. Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra ride three separate chariots three kilometres to the Gundicha temple — held to be their aunt's house — and return nine days later. The temple stays shut for fifteen days before it, because after the bath on Jyeshtha Purnima the three fall ill with fever; that period is called Anasara.
The story behind it
The unfinished images
King Indradyumna found a divine log in the sea. Vishwakarma came as an old carpenter and said: I will carve them, but the doors stay shut and nobody looks.
The doors opened
After twenty-one days the sound from inside stopped. Queen Gundicha grew anxious and the king opened the doors.
As they are
The carpenter was gone and the three images were unfinished — no hands, no feet. A voice said: install them as they are. Jagannath is in that form to this day.
The aunt's house
The Gundicha temple carries that queen's name, and the yatra goes to it — which is why it is called the aunt's house.
The sister's wish
In another story Subhadra wished to see the city, and her two brothers took her out on a chariot to show it to her. The yatra remembers that.
What to keep ready
- An image or picture of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra
- A small chariot, for a yatra at home — wood or metal
- Tulsi, yellow flowers, a coconut
- Khichdi, poda pitha and jaggery sweets — Jagannath's mahaprasad
- Mango, coconut water and seasonal fruit
- A token broom for the Chhera Pahanra, in which the king sweeps the chariot
- Incense, lamp, camphor, sandal
- Yellow or saffron cloth
How the puja is done
1
Bathe and resolve
Bathe and wear yellow. For a yatra at home, set the three images in a small chariot.
2
The puja
Bhog with tulsi — Jagannath is a form of Vishnu, so tulsi is required. Yellow flowers, coconut, incense and lamp.
3
Chhera Pahanra
Sweeping the chariot with a gold-handled broom. At Puri the king does it, and the meaning is exactly that: before the chariot there is no king and no commoner.
4
The pulling
Pull the chariot, or move it from one room to another at home. The tradition counts even touching the rope.
5
Mahaprasad
Khichdi and jaggery sweets. Jagannath's prasad is shared without regard to caste — that is a stated rule, not a sentiment.
6
Bahuda Yatra
The return journey nine days later. Those who could not come for the first go for that.
What to do
- Touch the rope or pull it — in this tradition that, not the darshan, is the day's act.
- Keep tulsi on the bhog.
- Share the mahaprasad with anyone; that is the oldest rule of the Jagannath temple.
- At home, seat small images in a chariot and make the journey symbolically — the tradition allows it.
- The Bahuda Yatra counts as much; if you cannot go, mark the day.
What not to do
- Do not push and shove around the chariot; in that crowd it is the real danger.
- No meat and no drink today.
- Do not sort people at the prasad — it goes against the root of this festival.
- Do not break a piece off the chariot as a keepsake.
- Nothing with onion or garlic goes into Jagannath's bhog.
The aarti
Shri Jagannath Aarti
जय जगन्नाथ स्वामी, प्रभु जय जगन्नाथ स्वामी।
नील शैल पर सोहे, तुम अंतर्यामी॥
बलभद्र संग सोहे, सुभद्रा प्यारी।
तीन रथों पर चढ़कर, निकले संसारी॥
हस्त-पाद बिन सोहे, अद्भुत रूप तुम्हारा।
अधूरा रूप है फिर भी, पूरा जग सारा॥
गुंडिचा तक जाते, मौसी के घर स्वामी।
नौ दिन वहीं बिराजे, फिर लौटें नामी॥
जाति-पाँति ना पूछे, प्रसाद सब पाए।
जो रथ की रस्सी छू ले, वो भव तर जाए॥
श्री जगन्नाथ की आरती, जो कोई नर गावे।
दर्शन बिना ही पावे, जो मंदिर न आवे॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.