In one of its earlier articles, Orissa Post spoke about the Rath Yatra preparations going on in some of the city temples. In this article, Monalisa Patsani visits some of the city colleges to bring you the preparations they are doing to celebrate the Rath Yatra
post news network, Bhubaneswar, July 15: The Jagannath temple in the Regional College of Management (RCM) is the second tallest Jagannath temple in the country after the Puri temple and hence the Rath Yatra celebration is always special among the students and the faculty members of the college. Since 2006, the Rath Yatra is being celebrated every year by the RCM.
“The reason behind starting the Rath Yatra in the RCM was to make the students aware of the biggest festival of the state. We have a department, Master in Tourism Administration (MTA) and field work is must for the students of tourism. They need to understand the nuances of the temple structures, rituals and the various ceremonies, which attract tourists in the state. To give the students the field knowledge of the most important festival of Orissa, we started Rath Yatra in our campus. Most of the temples in the state don’t allow non-Hindus to enter the temple and this is a major problem for the non-Hindu tourism management students. For this, we have constructed our own Jagannath temple in the campus, which is the second tallest temple after Puri temple”, said RCM Director, prof Prabir Pal.
The RCM Rath Yatra starts from the campus and reaches the Kali temple near the NALCO square. Thousands of devotees participate in the mega event.
As Nabakalebara is being observed this year the Rath Yatra has special significance for the college authorities. “Preparations are at the final stage; the three chariots are ready. The heights of the chariots vary as the chariot of Subhadra is 16 feet, Balabhadra is 18 feet and Lord Jagannath is 20 feet. As this year we are observing the Nabakalebara, the three idols have been given a new look. Many tribal artists are also invited to participate in the event, apart from the different Kirtan troupes,” prof Pal said.
The temple observes most of the rituals associated with the ceremony and there are 15 priests to look after the whole ceremony.
Like RCM, the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) also celebrates Rath Yatra on their campus. Since 2005, the students, the faculty and other staff members are celebrating Rath Yatra with much pomp and gaiety.
“For the last ten years, KIIT has been celebrating the special day. All the students, both Indian and foreign, actively take part in the Rath Yatra, which travels a distance of around 2km from the KIIT campus to Infosys. Every year we create a temporary Gundicha temple near Infosys, where the ceremony continues for 9 days. This year we have constructed three new chariots for the deities,” said Kamalakant Rath, managing in-charge of the KIIT Temple Trust.
Students from outside the state are very enthusiastic about the mega event on the campus. “We have heard a lot about the Rath Yatra and this time we are going to experience this in the campus. It is my first Rath Yatra and I am very curious to know about the ceremony and the rituals involved in it,” said Pooja Singh, a 2nd year student.
In Utkal University also the Rath Yatra is celebrated every year. The renovation work of the chariots has been complete and the enthusiasm among the students is very high. “This is my second Rath Yatra in the university. Last year also me and my friends pulled the Rath and it was really fun. Many of us want to visit Puri during the Rath Yatra, but our parents don’t allow us to do that; hence, Rath Yatra in the campus is a big event for all the students and faculty members,” said Sanghamitra Nayak, a 2nd year student of the Oriya department.
