Rath Yatra held

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in association with Sankirtan Rathayatra Committee of Neredmet, Secunderabad organised Lord Jagannatha rath yatra on Saturday.

The colourfully decorated car started from Ganesh Temple in Neredmet and moved through Dr A S Rao Nagar, ECIL, and culminated at Sri Venkateshwara Swamy temple at Kushaiguda. Devotees gathered in large numbers and sang hymns all the way.

Being a Saturday, traffic had to be diverted just for a little time and the yatra passed of peacefully. Local residents, shopkeepers and leaders from the locality took part in the yatra. Gour Gopal Das Adhikari,one of the organisers said that Rathyatra festival has been traditionally celebrated annually in Puri, Jagannath at Odisha, where Lord Jagannath along with his sister Subhadra and elder brother Baladeva parade through the streets of the city.

This practice and festival still takes place in Puri and since the late sixties all over the world. Pulling of the chariot during the Rath yatra by the devotees symbolises the attempt of the residents of Vrindavan, especially the cowherd boys and girls to bring Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra back to Vrindavan.

The first rath yatra outside India was initiated by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON) on July 9, 1967 in San Francisco. Gour Gopal Das said that more events in various places of the city and also in rural areas are planned.