The first Rathjatra in Western World

Not the biggest but Rathjatra is a big festival of the Hindus. It is an open-air festival held on the 2nd tithi (lunar day) of the bright fortnight normally in the month of Ashadh. It is believed that on this day Jagannath (lord of the universe), with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, comes out from his own temple (Jagannath Temple in Puri) and riding on chariots goes to his aunt Gundicha’s house. This journey is known as Rathjatra. After staying there for seven days, he comes back to his own temple. This come-back journey is known as Ultorath (the return journey). For this year, the date (as per almanac followed in Bangladesh) was 31st Ashar 1433 (15 July 2026).
Rathjatra is held mainly in some places of Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odissa and Jharkhand. Rathjatra of Puri in Odissa is known as the largest Rathjatra in the world. Millions of people flock to Puri on this occasion every year. Hotels, guest houses, resorts, even private households overflow with the rush of devotees. To manage Puri-bound rush, Indian Railway has decided to run 300 special trains this year. Many devotees believe that getting the opportunity to pull the chariot of Jagannath or even to touch the rope of Jagannath’s chariot is a great virtue. Whatever be the belief, due to restrictions and regulations of temple authority and incredible rush, it is almost impossible to get such opportunity. Even it is extremely difficult to come closer to the main chariot. Yet, flow of devotion never decreases. Crossing the boundaries of this region, Rathjatra is now held in many places of the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and South Africa with huge pomp and zeal. However, the beginning of celebrating Rathjatra outside this sub-continent was not at all easy.

As reported by the San Francisco Sun newspaper on 7 May 2012, the first Rathjatra in the western world was held in San Francisco in 1967. It was very difficult to arrange a big festival like Rathjatra in a country like America which is totally different from this sub-continent in terms of social norms, cultural activities and religious belief. However, it became possible from the thinking of Abhay Charan Dey, a Bengalee. Overcoming many odds, he arrived Boston on 17 September 1965. Afterwards he reached San Francisco in 1967.
While looking through the window of his room on Frederick Street, he first got the idea for holding this festival in San Francisco but he was not the implementer of the festival. At his inspiration, Jayananda Prabhu was the main organiser of the first ever Rathjatra in San Francisco, as well as in the western world. Spending a long time, he manually constructed a beautiful 2.5-ton chariot for procession of this first-time festival. Devotees rented a beautifully decorated U-Haul flatbed truck. Placing the cart in front, some devotees pulled it followed by the truck from Frederick Street to the sea.
Afterwards, this Jayananda Prabhu, a qualified industrial engineer, designed the first folding chariot. Avoiding overhead electric wires, that unique and distinctly designed chariot is now very popular and effective to drive on the occasion of this festival on populous roads in many big cities of the world.
Jayananda sought permission for a parade through the park though the police only permitted to go from Frederick Street to the sea and to hurry up the procession. But due to number of devotees, the procession had to proceed slowly. As reported later on, the festival was observed with great pomp. More than 500 people participated in the procession. Ladies standing on the truck distributed thousands of chapaties (hand-made flour-bread) with slices of orange, apple and banana. Everyone threw flowers to the onlookers as the procession marched towards the beach. The police calmed down and later acknowledged that this parade was one of the most peaceful events they had ever experienced.
At the initiative of Abhay Charan and Jayananda Prabhu, people of the Western world got the first glimpse of Rathjatra and witnessed the divine presence of Jagannath, Balbhadra and Subhadra on the streets of San Francisco. Since then, Rathjatra has gained ground and is being continuously celebrated around the world as the world’s biggest on-street festival.
Rathjatra is basically an Indian and Hindu festival but there was reportedly little or factually no attendance from the Indian and Hindu community in that first Rathjatra in the western world. All the participants were Westerners. However, it is also a point that number of Indians were very few in San Francisco in 1967. In course of time, this festival has gained popularity in developed countries. At that time, there was no temple in the main city of San Francisco. The Berkeley Temple was a large, old house adjacent to the university. Afterwards, the Berkeley Temple was shifted from Berkeley to San Francisco. The temple was renamed as New Jagannatha Puri in honour of the great event of the first Rathjatra and to uphold and introduce Lord Jagannath’s temple at Puri to the people of the western world.

The writer is a former Commissioner of Taxes