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In Baripada, women pull chariot at rath yatra

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneshwar

Women have the exclusive right to pull the chariot at the rath yatra at Baripada in northern Orissa

The festival at Puri may be world famous, a model for car festivals countrywide and even abroad, courtesy ISKCON, but nowhere is it held the way it is in Baripada.

The 425-year-old festival there is considered second to Puri. While the festival at Puri is for 10 days, the Baripada celebration is for 13 days.

Legend has it that Baidyanath Bhanja, the maharaja of Mayurbhanj, had gone to Puri in the 16th century for a darshan of Lord Jagannath, but he was denied entry. The disappointed king, as penance, went to the outskirts of Puri, where Lord Jagannath appeared in a dream and ordered him to construct a temple at Baripada, where he would appear for darshan to devotees.

Accordingly Bhanja built the Haribaldev temple in 1575AD. It stands as a symbol of religious fervour of the Bhanja rulers of Mayurbhanj and services are similar to those at the Puri temple.

The festival dates back to 1575, but unlike Puri, the pulling of chariots is in two phases. On the first day, the 14-wheel Lord Balabhadra chariot Taladhwaja moves, followed by the 12-wheel chariot of goddess Subhadra, Devidalana, which is pulled only by women.

Lord Jagannath's 16-wheel Nandighosh chariot is pulled on the second day.

The return journey follows the same pattern.

The practice of women pulling the chariot of goddess Subhadra was introduced 25 years back, by Vivekananda Patnaik, then collector of Mayurbhanj, to celebrate the International Year of Women.

Indira Gandhi was then prime minister and Nandini Satpathy Orissa chief minister.

Since then, the pulling of the chariot has been the sole preserve of women, who do it with enthusiasm, to the rhythm of songs and blowing of conch shells

The entire show is managed by women, with volunteers from local colleges and schools pitching in to maintain order.

Prior to 1975, women found it difficult to even come near the ropes of the chariot, as they had to jostle with men.

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