Essay On A Festival For Students

Puri Rath Yatra Image

Short essay on a festival

Introduction

Festival is a kind of celebration. It is a celebration of happiness. It has got a religious bias. Different festivals are celebrated by different religions all over the world. The system of celebration varies from religion to religion. Hindus observe a lot of festivals around the year. One among them is the car-festival at Puri (Odisha).
It is one of the greatest festivals for Hindus. It is the most dignified festival in the Hindu World. This festival is held in many places in India. But the one which is held at Puri in the home of Lord Jagannath is the greatest. This festival is known worldwide.

Description of the Jagannath festival

               Prior to this day, a large number of Hindus flock to Puri from different parts of India. The Railways suffer from a heavy rush of people. The pilgrims are compulsorily given anti-cholera inoculation at the Railway Station, Puri to prevent any outbreak. The priests of the Puri temple and their representatives make a big business over the pilgrims. They make a lot of money on this occasion. The shop-keepers and many other businessmen earn a lot during this period as pilgrims don't hesitate to pay for the god.

               The three deities of the Puri temple are known by different names. The first one is Jagannath, second is Balabhadra and the third one is Subhadra. On the day of this festival, they are brought from the temple and placed on the three different wooden chariots. These chariots are quite enormous in size. Mighty string is attached to these chariots. The chariots move forward when the pilgrims pull the strings onward, It is regarded as a holy job to pull the mighty strings. Millions and millions of pilgrims gather around the chariots.

They move as the chariots move. All are with full devotion of heart, full of spiritual belief for the deities. Sounds raised by the brass bands are too high. Sounds of the musical instruments rise above the sky. Sounds of the carols are heard at each and every point of the journey. Prayer-songs are not wanting. Chantings of the rituals are heard over a long way. All these confusing sounds make a great noise at the time.

                These holy chariots are followed over a mile to the Gundicha House. In this house, the deities stay for nine days. On the tenth day, the return journey is made to the Puri temple. This is a part of the car-festival and this is known as the holy return. This journey is also full with equal pomp and grandeur. When the chariots arrive at the main temple i.e Jagannath temple, the deities are carried into the temple and placed on their respective shrines. Then after the Puja ceremony, the gold attires are put on the holy idols.

Conclusion 

              The car-festival is one of the greatest festivals of the Hindus. Every Hindu on any part of the world bears a desire to see it at least once in his lifetime. It is regarded as a holy to attend the car-festival.