Jagannath Rath yatra- The Festival of Chariots, Vijayawada- Iskcon Temple

Jagannath Rath Yatra is one of the main festival celebrated by ISKON .The International Society for Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON) was established in T 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada). ISKCON has since developed into a worldwide confederation of 10,000 temple devotees and 2,50,000 congregational devotees. Better known as the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON is comprised of more than 350 centers, 60 rural communities, 50 schools and 60 restaurants worldwide. The Ratha Yatra takes place every year, and many people go there to participate in the car festival. It is celebrated in commemoration of Lord Krishna along with His elder brother, Balarama, and His younger sister, Subhadra, visiting Kurukshetra on the occasion of a solar eclipse. Kurukshetra is about ninety miles north of Delhi. It is a place of pilgrimage and people still gather there, especially during the solar and lunar eclipse. Five thousand years ago, Krishna was the prince of Dvaraka and He came to Kurukshetra with His elder brother Balarama and sister Subhadra. As we all know, in His childhood, Krishna was raised as the foster son of Nanda Maharaja and Yashoda in Vrindavana. But later He left Vrindavana and the people there became very unhappy. So when Krishna came to Kurukshetra, the people of Vrindavana got the news and they came to see Krishna. Srimati Radharani, the most beloved personality, requested Krishna to come back to the village and pulled his ratha to take him to Vrindavana. It is a very ecstatic feeling.Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa at the age of twenty-four and on His mother's request He was living at Jagannatha Puri. Every year He was taking part in the car festival of Jagannatha. He was in the same mood of separation as Srimati Radharani. So this Ratha Yatra festival is a festival of feelings.Formerly there was a king named Indradyumna. He established the temple of Lord Jagannatha at Puri in Odisha. This King was very much anxious to establish a temple for the Lord and he asked Vishvakarma to carve the Deities of Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra. Vishvakarma agreed but on the condition that till the carving is finished he should not be disturbed. He worked behind closed doors. But there was a time limit. The King, who was very anxious to see that the temple is established soon, forcibly opened the door, and he saw that the Deities were half finished. However, he decided to worship the half-finished Deities in the temple. Since then, the three Deities – Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra – are being worshiped.