At the crack of dawn on 11th December, my husband and I drove down from Delhi to Ludhiana, the industrial capital of Punjab to participate in the world renowned Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath. On entering the city innumerable big and small colorful billboards informing the Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatra were visible. Whatever direction one moved his eyes; it was hard to miss them. As we moved on the whole city was decorated with flyers, banners and placards with beautiful pictures of Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada and the details of the magnificent festival. It was really amazing to see such wide “all-pervading” publicity!

As we proceeded towards the Durga Mandir the site of origination of the Ratha Yatra we were surprised to see the traffic arrangements with roads barricaded for the moving traffic and almost the whole town could be seen walking on their foot towards Their Lordships who were seated on the 20 feet long and 15 feet wide chariot (Ratha). The security arrangements amazed us, the policemen all at their best were deployed in the number of hundreds stood at guard.

Cutting through the thick crowd of thousands both of us walked briskly towards the Majestic Chariot to have the glimpse of Their Lordships. We had to instill the determination of Dhruva Maharaja to reach the Ratha as it seemed a tough job but we succeeded. There were the beautiful, huge Deities of The Lordships Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra dressed in tantalizing attire loaded with jewelry and flowers that mesmerized all.

The guest of honor; Mr. Veer Bhadra Singh (a minister from the centre) along with sanyasi’s Gopal Krishna Goswami, Navayogendra Swami and Vedavyas Priya Swami and Mahaman Das inaugurated the festival. The broom with a knob of gold studded with diamonds was used to cleanse the road for this ceremony. The official announcement of the beginning of the Rath Yatra put the crowds zeal to test; nothing could stop them from loud singing of the Mahamantra and the pulling the Ratha. The crowd of thousands grew into lakhs with not an inch of space left on the roads. More than four hundred welcoming stalls were set up on the 8 km long stretch of the yatra. Big colorful Rangolis by the artists adorned the roads welcoming their Lordships. Besides several kirtan parties, the Ratha Yatra procession consisted of two beautifully decorated elephants, carts, and several bands.

Some residents unanimously commented that their city had transformed into Vaikuntha due to the mercy of Lord Jagannath as every single soul in it seemed was endeavoring to please the Lord.

Gopal Krishna Goswami, ISKCON GBC Zonal Secretary for most of North India very wholeheartedly described the response and participation of the public of Ludhiana in the Rathayatra festival as “the largest in the world”. Seeing the huge crowds in the streets throughout the route that the Rathayatra moved through towards it’s destination at Nav Durga Mandir, one got to believe him. The local Media too confirmed this .The reputed newspapers both English and Hindi established the same.

From quick bites like biscuits juices and sweets to heavier snacks Prasadam delicacies such as Pav Bhaji, sandwiches, pakoras, samosas, dosas, poori chana, halwa, dry fruits, milk garnished with kesar and almonds, ice cream in cups and cones were distributed. And some stalls offered full meals too. There was profuse distribution of sweets, fruits and various types of drinks from the pandals that lined the roads.

The roads were all lit up with thousands and thousands of strips of bulbs thus illuminating the whole city. The welcome gates crossed the number of hundred.

The city seemed fully engrossed in the festival; the welcoming stalls not only offered prasadam but also had DJ systems or sound system with the Mahamantra or bhajans of Radha Krishna filling the air. People were dancing to the devotional music. Never in my life had I seen such huge number of people gathering voluntarily and enjoying peacefully. All glories to Lord Jagannath whose mercy was no wonder flowing.

There were also many devotees from ISKCON temples at Vrindavan, Kurukshetra, Chandigarh, and New Delhi, and congregational devotees from all these places and more. There were a number of foreign devotees from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Groups of artists from various states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, were invited to perform in the grand parade. Members of different communities too participated for the pleasure of the Lord of the Universe. Members of Naam dhari Sikh community ; men, women and children all together stood on a dais singing beautiful shabads from Granth Sahib describing the glories of Krishna, Vrindavan, Mother Yasoda and Devaki.

“We are thankful to ISKCON for we could serve the Lord,” said Amrik Singh, a resident of Pratap Nagar.

Many business, residential and religious organizations in the city were more than happy to be a part of the Ratha Yatra . Not only these even the schools in the city participated. Bhakta Satish Gupta, chairman of the Ratha Yatra festival committee informed that every school was involved to the extent that they had sent a personal invitation to all children with their parents name printed along. The youth formed a big part of the Ratha Yatra; they dressed in identical “ Lord Jagannath’’ T-shirts fully participated in the procession.

The labor of the devotees prior to the Ratha Yatra was quite evident with the large number of people turning up for the pious occasion. Rakshanath Das told that a month in advance devotees took out ‘nagar sankirtan’ in all the areas of the city; thus creating awareness among the people. The enthusiasm of the devotees remained to the brim till the processions end at the Nav Durga temple at 12.45 in the night.

Such superb planning was the mystery to success.

The seed of this ostentatious festival was implanted way back in 1996 during Srila Prabhupada Centennial when the first Ratha Yatra was organized by Gopal Krishna Goswami with Sakshi Gopal Das. From that year onwards there has been no looking back…with the mercy of Srila Prabhupada now millions participate in the festival of Chariots in the city of Ludhiana. It has become a must trip for ISKCON devotees to witness the fervor, dedication and passion of the people of Ludhiana.