Rath Yatra was celebrated lovingly in Vrindavan. Devotees dressed in their finest and braved the sticky heat to sing and dance with their beloved Jagannath. Each temple celebrated the festival in its own unique way. Vrindavan’s main Jagannath Temple is situated in Parikrama Marg, in the area known as Gyan Gudri. This place is the centre of the Rath Yatra celebrations in Vrindavan.
Chariots from many different temples converge there and do parikrama before returning home. The chariots were decorated in traditional Brajwasi style, covered with garlands of fresh flowers. Young boys sat atop the chariots and threw juicy mangoes into the crowd as they went. Sadhus accompanied them doing kirtan with khol and kartal. Cool water and sharbat was available on the roadside so that the devotees would remain fresh and rejuvenated.
The highlight of the day was the little children who had dressed up their tiny chariots and placed their deities inside and were seen doing the parikrama in the Gyan Gudri area. Shri Banke Bihari Lal toured the city in a chariot made of silver and gold. Other temples like Radha Gopinath, Shri Radha Damodar and Radha Madanmohan placed their deities in small chariots and took them around the temple courtyards.
RadharamanJi sat in a gorgeous silver chariot drawn by silver horses, driven by a man made of silver. After the aarti, Shaligram Shila was seated in an adorable little silver rath and taken on procession around the outer part of the altar of the temple by the Goswamis.
