Ratha Yatra (Chariot Festival) of Maryland 2016

Watch our video at the end of this blog post!

Barry and I are always trying to broaden our cultural awareness. We love learning about cultures that are different than our own, and you don’t always have to travel to different countries in order to be in an immersive environment. We have the privilege of living in/near two large and diverse cities: Baltimore and Washington D.C. The advantage of living here is that there are many cultural events throughout the year, right in own “backyard” so to speak.

Recently, we attended the Ratha Yatra (Chariot Festival) of Maryland, which took place on May 29th, 2016 in Downtown Baltimore.

Ratha Yatra began over 5,000 years ago in India and “celebrates Lord Krishna’s return to Vrindaban and is held annually in the months of June-July to honor Lord Jagannatha.” source

“Usually the deities of Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra are worshiped within the temple, but on the day of the Rath Yatra festival they are taken through the streets so that everyone can have the fortune of seeing them. Richly decorated chariots, resembling temple structures, are pulled through the streets of Jagannath Puri. This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balarama, and their sister Subhadra to the Gundicha Temple, situated 2 km from their temple.” source

The day began with the chariot parade, where you could pull the chariot housing the three deities through the streets of Baltimore. The parade began at Federal Hill, moved past the Maryland Science Center, and ended across the street from the Inner Harbor where the Festival of India was taking place.

Barry and I were invited to hold the rope and pull the chariot, but we respectfully declined - wanting to observe the festivities and learn more than participate. We walked along the parade route and enjoyed the happiness and love that was involved in the parade. Every so often, the parade would stop for dancing and chanting.

At the Festival of India, there were several tents set up with food and goods to be purchased. We browsed the goods and split a small meal that unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of. It was some type of oatmeal sweetened with golden raisins and pecans.

While we waited for the chariot to arrive at the festival (we went on ahead of the parade), Barry decided to have a go on the “orbitron”, which was basically a giant gyration machine that moved based on body balance. I would have tried, but I was wearing a dress and I didn't really feel like flashing everyone at the festival!

We also got henna done on our hands. We decided to go for a matching design, and let the henna artist freehand whatever she wanted to do. I like when they freehand designs, because it makes each design unique and special. I also learned from our henna artist that in the Indian culture it is considered rude for our feet to touch. I of course learned this after our feet grazed, but luckily neither of us took offense!

Once the chariot arrived, most of the attention was on that of course. All of the festival-goers were crowded around the chariot, praying and giving praise to the three deities. Many people were reaching up to the chariot where a small boy was sitting and handing out some sort of edible grain or flower-petals for their prayers. Unfortunately, we never found out it was, but if you know, we would love to find out!

All in all, the Ratha Yatra was really fun! We felt very welcome through the whole festival. Everyone there was so full of love and happiness, it was very infectious. You could tell that they were all about celebration of life and sharing their festival and culture with everyone who came to participate.

As promised, check out our video from the festivities!