The Rathyatra Tales - II

The Rathyatra eve:  

I have been to Puri many times. For a Bengali, an extended weekend always calls for the slogan ‘Chalo Puri, Jagannath er Desh Ghuri’!

But Puri, during Rathyatra, had donned a new look. Huge festive banners and giant hoardings greeted us from all sides. Outside the railway station, the hoardings stuck out at various angles obscuring a clear view of the sunny sky. Tiny red-colored Airtel boards in the shape of a ratha hung from each lamp post. The town looked colorful and festive.  

On the beach with their bags and baggage

Huge replicas of Maaza bottles about 20 feet high stood on the Puri beach swaying with the gentle breeze. The beach seemed to be dotted with tiny specks from far. On nearing it, I realized that the dots were masses of people who had camped there. Maadur spread around and bags serving as pillows, the families fanned out making it impossible for us to maneuver our way towards the sea. It was around 7pm. Armed with tiffin carriers, each cluster of family had sat down for an early dinner. 

Trying to find our way through the maze and reach the sea

These were people who had journeyed from far. I had heard stories from Ma that these groups, which include senior citizens, children, married women and men, land in Puri after having traveled from far. They start streaming in during the late afternoon and continue till the late hours of the night and often till the next day. They, unlike us, do not check into any kind of hotel or Dharamshala. Rather they make the beach their home, carry food from home or eat from the local vendor, spend the night camped there, wake up early, perform their morning ablutions by the beach and then start their pilgrimage towards the Jagannath temple.

It was quite interesting to find toddlers playing happily with the sand while young girls sat at ease amongst thousands of strangers. Each mat was roughly at a distance of one foot from each other. Such is the demand for a spot on the beach. 

The giant Maaza bottles on the beach

The road along the beach is equally fascinating. This road, which usually remains busy, was clogged with traffic and people. People on foot were steadily streaming into the beach. Passengers who had just landed in the town were walking past each hotel, checking for availability and affordable room rates. Evening walkers simply sat on the raised platform along the beach, enjoying the chaos and cacophony. Groups of keertaniyas from different sects marched along the road, singing, dancing and wildly gyrating to songs which we couldn’t hear in the noise followed by groups of long, wild-haired sanyasis clad only in a loin cloth chanting and dancing to some unknown tune. Added to this were the autos sounding their horns in a bid to clear the traffic ahead, rickshaw pullers heckling with customers on the fare and group of ‘chengras’ confronted by a family for trying to molest a female – it was chaos and commotion everywhere. 

P.S : We had forgotten to carry our camera. Hence all pictures were taken on my archaic cell phone. Next year probably I will remember to carry the camera and get you some better ones!!