India Festival 2010

India Festival 2010
FESTIVAL OF CHARIOTS
A Tribute to Lord Jagannath Ji.
It was the July 18th 2010, a most anticipated
Sunday morning as our family was heading to
the Indian Cultural Center (ICC) to witness the
spectacular Indian festival, Tampa Bay Rath Yatra –
2010. Whenever, its Rath Yatra, we usually head to
the ICC as usual location for any significant Indian
festivities. Now let us start the Masala!!!
We left our home at 9:15 AM, it took about 30 mins
to get to ICC because of how far New Tampa is from
Lynn road, where the ICC is located. On reaching
ICC, my brother
and me helped out
a few devotees who
were setting up
the Chariot which
would be carrying
By: Sairam Sundar
Lord Jagannath,
Lord Balaram, who
is the brother of
Lord Jagannath and
Devi Subhadra, who
is sister of the Lords.
I felt a little sullen
to realize that fixing
up the chariot was a
“Man’s job”. I was fascinated by the dedication and
passion of the devotees who have come down all the
way from Alachua.
A few minutes later we stepped inside the ICC
building. Thousands of chairs stood before me, all
empty as we were early to reach. Lights were twinkling
from the spot lights and few volunteers were setting
up the stage. Shivram was enjoying his moments as
he was going up the stairs and to the second floor as
there was a lot of space to move around and have fun.
A spicy and sweet aroma of typical Indian food filled
my nostrils, it was all emanating from the Kitchen
where my Mom was volunteering, that’s the reason
we were here early.
As time went on we realized that the crowd as
gathered and the deities were nicely setup on the stage
and prayers & pujas were performed and devotees
have lined up to perform Aarthi. We were describing
and admiring the decorations lay on the deities and
took out turns to perform the Aarthi to the Lord.
Finally it was time
to carry the deities
to the Chariot and
we followed up in
a hurry, to garb the
best possible location
to witness the event.
Fortunately, my
Mom and me found
the best possible
location, Can you
believe!, we were
sitting behind the
Lord Himself and By: Shivram Sundar
offering the Pardha.
The Chariot was decorated with balloons, flowers
and confetti and other good stuff. With one big
heave, the Chariot was pulled by the devotees from
both ends and we were driving down the road. The
rest of devotees and their families & children were
following the Chariot chanting Hare Rama, Hare
Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare …it was hot
and humid and there was a frequent need for water
breaks for the devotees.
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www.gujaratisamaj.org 40 GUJARATI SAMAJ OF TAMPA BAY