Jagannath rath yatra 2025: There is a lot of glory of Jagannath Dham in the Puranas, it is also called Baikuntha of the earth and Puri is also called Purushottam Puri. It is one of the holy Char Dham Badrinath, Dwarka, Rameswaram and Jagannath Puri of Hinduism. This time the Jagannath Rath Yatra is going to start from June 27 this time and it will conclude on 5 July. According to the almanac, every year the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha starts from the second date of the Shukla Paksha of Ashadh month. This Bhavarath Yatra is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.
It is said that God brought different avatars for his devotees in every era. In all avatars, this is an avatar in which only his big eyes are seen so that he can see every devotee and give them darshan. A story of Puri Dham related to this devotion is also very popular. However, this story is also related to the Anasara Puja of Lord Jagannath.
When God holds Gajanan’s disguise
The story is such that in the 16th century, a sculptor named Ganpati Bhatt lived in a small village in Maharashtra. He was a great devotee of Lord Ganesha. He used to be engaged in worship and devotion to Lord Ganesha at all times. One day he set out on a pilgrimage. He traveled to many places and finally reached Puri in Odisha. When he reached Puri, he was very sad because there was no temple of Lord Ganesha there. He was very keen to see Lord Ganesha, but he could not be possible. This made them very disappointed and went back with offerings without darshan. Due to which his Char Dham Yatra also remained incomplete.
While returning, he found a Brahmin youth on the way. Seeing Ganpati Bhatt sad, that Brahmin asked, ‘Why are you so sad?’ Ganpati Bhatt told, ‘I had come to see Ganesh ji, but there is no temple here. Now I will make the idol of Ganesha myself. Hearing this, the Brahmin laughed and said, ‘Then why are you delaying? Go now and start making the idol. Ganpati Bhatt started making idols with full inspiration, but something strange would happen every time in his idol. Sometimes the eyes of the idol would become very big, sometimes the eyes would get round and sometimes the flute would come in his hand. The way he wanted to make the idol, he was unable to become that. Then the Brahmin said, ‘There is no temple of Ganesha here. You focus and remember Ganesh ji. Make the idol in the same way that the picture comes to meditation.
Ganpati Bhatt liked this advice. He started focusing. In meditation, he saw many different things like sometimes a big face was smiling, sometimes Ganesh ji was seen playing the flute and sometimes two big eyes were looking at him. Then, he saw the idol of Lord Jagannath in the Jagannath temple of Puri. He also got upset by this because it was very difficult to explain what they were seeing. It was not easy to make an idol at all.
Devotee visited God
Then that Brahmin asked Bhatt ji, ‘Did you visit the Jagannath temple?’ Bhatt ji replied, ‘No, when I came to know that Ganesh ji is not there, I came back without seeing it.’ The Brahmin said, ‘Once you go and see, maybe your Ganesha should be there.’ Hearing the Brahmin, Bhatt ji walked towards the temple. At that time, ‘Anasara Vidhi’ was going on in the temple. It was the full moon day of Jyeshtha month. During this method, Lord Jagannath, elder brother Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken to the bathing courtyard and they are bathed with 108 pitches of water. After bathing, they are dried with a soft cloth and that cloth is tied in such a way that the face of God looks like an elephant trunk and it is called the ‘Gajanan dress’ of Lord Jagannath.
When Bhatt ji reached the temple and saw this Gajanan disguise, he became very happy. In happiness, Bhatt ji said loudly, ‘My Ganesh ji is this.’ He saw his Ganesha in Lord Jagannath. When Bhatt ji turned back to tell his happiness, there was no one there. It is believed that Lord Jagannath himself came to remove the illusion of his devotee. After wearing Gajanan disguise, Lord Jagannath goes to the seclusion for 15 days and then does not give darshan to anyone.