In one of the posts, I had mentioned that when we visited the temple, we were unable to see Lord Juggernath because he was "sick". There is actually a story behind this, which I got to know from my grandmother as we were resting in our home in Puri. To begin with, in the Hindu religion, there is one God (and myriad forms of this God, which is why almost every day is a holy day). Three Gods, however, make up this one God; they are Brahma (the Generator), Vishnu (the Operator) and Shiva (the Destroyer). Yes, their initials spell out God. Lord Vishnu has come to Earth 9 times, in various avatars (one of them being Lord Buddha). It is said that when he comes to Earth for the 10th time, something bad is supposed to happen, like the Apocalypse is supposed to occur with the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. Anyway, Lord Juggernath is one of Vishnu's avatars. And, as Vishnu comes to Earth as a mortal, he must also go through everything that mortals go through. That is what this festival of Rath Yatra essentially celebrates. The giant statue of Lord Juggernath in Puri temple first is married, and then gets "sick". He then goes on a trip to his aunt's house, along with his brother and sister. This trip starts at the Juggernath temple, which is on one end of the main road in Puri, and stops about halfway. The three statues of the Gods are carried on long wooden chariots, called the raths, hence the name of the festival. While we were in Puri, we saw people constructing these massive raths. In fact, it took approximately 9 people to carry a piece of wood that was probably 7-8 feet in length. These raths are massive. Anyway, his aunt gives him some food, after which he continues on to his destination, which is the other end of the road. There he stays for 9 days, meditating, and he then makes the return journey to his house. Upon reaching, he finds that his wife, Lakshmi, has locked him out. Why? Because he didn't take her on the journey. Outside he stays for two days, begging and pleading Lakshmi to let him inside his house (the temple). She finally relents; that's the end of Rath Yatra.
Even more interesting is the story of the statue. First of all, Hindus follow the lunar calendar, in which each month has 28 days. There are 12 months (and a few days) in a lunar year. Eventually, there are enough days left over to create another month; this month is called the "double month," as it has the same name of another month (it would be like having two Julys in one year). When the month called Ashar is the "double month," (about once in 12 or 13 years) the statue of Lord Juggernath has to be rebuilt. But not just from any piece of wood. The head priest supposedly gets a dream from Lord Vishnu as to where he can find the wood for the statue. It can be from a forest in India, or it can be a piece of wood floating in the ocean (apparently last time it was Madeira wood that was floating in the ocean). Lord Juggernath is then built from that wood. Once the statue is built, the head priest goes through a very sacred ceremony, to transfer the "soul" from the old statue of Juggernath to the new statue. He first blindfolds his eyes several times over with black cloth so that he can't see, and he then covers his hand in flour and wraps them with thick cloth so he can't feel anything. Using a key he carries with him at all times, he unlocks the old Juggernath's "belly," and transfers the "soul" to the new Juggernath. Legend has it that after the new Juggernath is put into the temple, the head priest dies within a few months.
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