The important Hindu festival of Rath Yatra was celebrated with great fanfare at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Sydney on 14 July 2013.
Rath Yatra is a festival suffused with devotional sentiments for the Lord. For thousands of years, Hindus have celebrated this spectacular festival. Gathering together, they earnestly pray to the Lord to steer the chariots of their lives on the path of devotion and faith.
The sabha in Sydney mandir started with Dhun and Prarthana. The celebration assembly featured cultural programmes, traditional dances, kirtans, speeches and video presentations.
Based on the ancient tradition of parading the murtis of the Lord in decorated chariots at Jaggannathpuri, towards the end of the assembly, three decorated raths, one bearing the murti of Harikrishna Maharaj, one bearing the murtis of Jaggannathji, Baldevji and Subadhraji and one bearing the murti of Pramukh Swami Maharaj were pulled by the BAPS Bal and Balika Mandal, Sydney.
The sabha concluded with Arti and Mahaprasad.