Rath Yatra festival begins in Bangladesh
The festival of Rath Yatra began in various parts of Bangladesh on Tuesday. In Dhaka, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) organised a number of programmes in the morning to celebrate the start of the Rath Yatra festival. ISKCON has chalked out an eight day long programme during the period beginning Tuesday, June 20 till June 27.
The ISKCON programme started in the morning at its Swamibag temple in Dhaka with Agnihotra Yajna. Later, a colourful procession was brought out with the idols of Lord Jagannath, Sri Balram and Devi Subhadra on the chariots. Devotees pulled the Rath as it moved through Jaikali Temple, Jatiya Press Club, Ramna Temple to finally culminate at the historic Dhakeshwari temple.
Another big Rath Yatra programme was held at Dhamrai near Dhaka in Manikganj district. High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Pranay Verma also took part in the Dhamrai Rath Yatra.
The Dhamrai Rath Yatra is considered the second biggest Rath Yatra after the Puri Rath Yatra. The Rath Yatra celebration at Dhamrai is a centuries old tradition which is observed at the place where the ancient temple was burnt down by the Pakistani forces in 1971. It was later rebuilt with the support of the government of India.
The eight-day Rath Yatra festival will end with celebration of Ulto Rath Yatra (reverse journey) on June 27.
