The 17th ratha yatra of Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadramayi was on 11th and 12th of January 2009. I had reached Guruvayur the previous day and was joining a group of 50 devotees to travel together to Coimbatore. It was indeed a blissful trip. Kirtan resounded throughout the trip and when we got tired of singing (it took a great shouting effort to sing above the sound of a roaring bus speeding through the highway !)we listened to the blissful singing of HH Lokanatha Maharaja. We finally reached Coimbatore at around 12.30 noon time. We first went to unload our luggages at a kalyana mandapam which was booked for our night stay. Then we proceeded to the ratha yatra location. After some wonderful and heavy prasadam, we went to the Venugopala Perumal temple where the deities where residing before being taken to the chariot. When we reached there we were welcomed by the melodious singing of none other than HG Vayasaki Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and one of the leading kirtaniyas of ISKCON ! Hearing him sing made me realize what a poor singer I really am !!! The ratha yatra was inagurated by the Mayor and was attended by HH Jayadvaita Maharaja and HH Bhanu Maharaja ! The deities were carried on palanquins to the ratha which was parked some distance away. On the way, I had some time to take precious association of HH Jayadvaita Maharaja - he was his usual self, only travelling a little more than before. I pointed it out to him and he smiled sweetly, he said "a little more, but not too much".
The ratha yatra solely missed the presence of HH Jayapataka Maharaja, who was present for all the 16 previous ratha yatras ! But Sarvaisvarya Prabhu mentioned in his speech that he spoke to Maharaja and Maharaja said that he was present in spirit even though absent physically.
It was a blissful three hours of non-stop chanting, giving mercy and prasadam of Jagannatha to everyone on the way. It was also opportunity to meet old friends like Swayam Nitai Dasa who was in KKD before and now in Hosur. He was his usual dancing self !!! I also met HG Jagat Sakshi and Sathyamedha Prabhus from Thiruvananthapuram, Anantha Sri Krishna Dasa from Cochin and many others. Myself, Vijayendra Krsna and Rasanidhi were travelling together alongwith Prana Sakha and others from Guruvayur. I also finally got to meet HG Sarvaisvarya Prabhu in front of the Ratha after he came down from the chariot and he led a dynamic kirtan even with a malfunctioning sound system. His kirtan roared even without a microphone. All together it was an unforgettable experience !
Back in the hall after the ratha yatra there were lectures by both the Maharajas and tthe next day, there were two really deep and high-tech presentations by HH Bhanu Maharaja. It was very fantastic for many intelligent devotees, but I could hardly understand it all with my dull brain. Anyway, 2 days passed like 2 minutes and we were back in the bus goiing back to Kerala.
One thing I was able to appreciate very much was the organisational side of things. All glories to HG Sarvaisvarya Prabhu and his team for putting together such a wonderful festival. Everything was fantastic -- the personal care, the prasadam, the hospitality and all the arrangements. It definitely took many many hours, days and weeks of careful planning and organization to put together such a fantastic festival.
I am now looking forward to the next festival !!!
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