North Carolina: 2024 Ratha Yatra celebration in North Carolina demonstrated the true spirit of inclusivity and community building, proving that our differences can unite us towards a common purpose. On July 13th, the sacred Rath Jatra celebration was held at the Hindu temple in HSNC Morrisville. With great anticipation and enthusiasm, volunteers gathered to prepare for the grand festival by assigning tasks such as food preparation and distribution, Ratha decoration, Puja preparation, and traffic management, among others. The volunteers coordinated their efforts with great dedication and passion, ensuring every detail of the festival was taken care of, creating a truly memorable experience for all. Preparations for the Ratha Yatra festival commenced a day earlier, as cooking for over 3,000 devotees was undertaken by various volunteers in the HSNC temple’s kitchen. Additionally, some sweet dishes were prepared by volunteers at their homes. Similarly the Rath decoration team assembled the Ratha and decorated it for the festival night before. The festival began at 9:00 AM on 13th July 2024 with Pahandi of Lord Balabhadra, followed by Maa Subhadra and then of Lord Jagannath from the temple to the chariot. The chariot was pulled by many hundreds which was accompanied by kirtan by ISKCON devotees and Ghanta playing and bhajan singing. To add to the grandeur playing of drums by local Maratha Mandal team was worth the experience . The Ratha was pulled to Gundicha temple where the cultural program took place along with the serving of Prasad to all devotees free of cost. The cultural programs included classical dances, skits and devotional songs. The cultural program went on until 4 PM. Afterwards the lords were returned to the chariot and the Bahuda started, in which they returned to their temple from Gundicha temple. After Lord Jagannath was back in his temple along with his siblings they were decorated with gold ornaments which is known as “Suna Besha” . Let the blessings of lord be showered on his devotees and humanity in total. Jagannath is the symbol of humanism and universal brotherhood let that spread well across. Jay Jagannath. The event was well planned executed under the leadership team of Manoj Pandya President HSNC and Tarini Dash, Bichitra Sahu and Jyoti Mishra.
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