Chandana Yatra () also known as Gandhalepana yatra () is the longest festival observed at Jagannatha temple at

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Chandana Yatra meaning

Sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...

Voyage in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, which continues for 42 days is observed in two parts: Bahara Chandana and Bhitara Chandana Chandana Lagi Besha Of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannatha

Bahara Chandana

Bahara Chandana starts from

Akshaya Tritiya Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Akti or Akha Teej, is an annual Jain and Hindu spring festival. It falls on the third ''tithi'' (lunar day) of the bright half (''Shukla Paksha'') of the Hindu month of Vaisakha. This day is auspicious for those ...

and continues for 21 days. Construction of the chariots for the annual

Ratha Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. They are held annually during festivals in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The term also refers to the popular annual Ratha Yatra of Puri that involves a public process ...

festival starts from Akshaya Tritiya. On the first 21 days the representative idols of the main deities of the Jagannath temple as well as five Shivalingas known as the Pancha Pandava are taken in a procession from the Singhadwara or the Lion Gate of the Jagannatha temple at

to the Narendra Tirtha tank. The deities Madanamohana,

Bhudevi Bhumi (Sanskrit: भूमि, romanized: Bhūmi), also known as Bhudevi, Dharani, and Vasundhara, is a significant goddess in Hinduism, personifying the Earth. Her earliest form is reflected in the Vedic goddess Prithvi, though their roles and de ...

, Sridevi and Ramakrishna participate in this yatra for 21 days. The deities are taken on two chapas (boats), namely, Nanda and Bhadra, on an excursion around the Narendra Tritha. After various rituals the deities are taken to the Narandra pond located near the Jagannath Temple and they are placed on grandly decorated boats for an evening cruise of the tank.

Bhitara Chandana

The last 21 days include rituals held inside the temple itself. Instead of the daily cruises, the playful ride happens here on four occasions, the

Amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conj ...

, the full moon night, on the

Shashti Shashthi () also referred to as Chhath is the sixth day of the lunar fortnight in the Hindu calendar. It is tithi (lunar day) of a paksha, the fourteen-day phase of the moon. Etymology The word comes from the Sanskrit cardinal ''ṣaṣ'' (si ...

and the

Ekadashi Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of the waxing (''Shukla Paksha, Shukla Pakṣa)'' and waning (''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa)'' lunar cycles in a Hindu calendar, Vedic calendar month. Ekadashi is popularly observed within Vaishnavism one ...

of the bright fort night.

References

External links

{{Jagannath, state=expanded Festivals in Jagannath Religious festivals in India Hindu festivals