The Jagannath Temple is a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

dedicated to the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

God

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

in the city of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

in the

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

state of

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 ...

. The temple is famous for its annual chariot festival, the

Rath 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 processi ...

, which is the third most important and largest after the Ratha Yatra at Puri. The temple remains open for devotees from 04:30 AM to 01:00 PM and 03:00 PM to 09:00 PM daily. Ahmedabad2007-269

The Rath Yatra

The annual Rath Yatra coincides with the Rath Yatra in

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 ...

. As per tradition elephants have the first glimpse of Jagannath, his brother

Balabhadra In Jainism, Balabhadra or Baladeva are among the sixty-three illustrious beings called '' śalākāpuruṣas'' that are said to grace every half cycle of time. According to Jain cosmology, ''śalākāpuruṣa'' are born on this earth in every ...

and sister

Subhadra Subhadra (, ) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is a princess from the Yadava clan and the sister of Krishna and Balarama. Subhadra married Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers and had a son named Abhimanyu. Sub ...

and lead the procession. The

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of Gujarat performs the 'Pahind Vidhi' or the symbolic cleaning of the path for chariot of Jagannath for the rath yatra, after which the procession begins. The rath yatra entourage passes through different parts of the city of Ahmedabad covering a distance of about 14-km. The yatra halts at Saraspur, where the locals offer 'Maha Bhoj' to the entire entourage of devotees of Lord Jagannath. It is celebrated as 'Lokotsav' or public festival of the state of Gujarat. The Ahmedabad Rath Yatra is known to be the third largest Rath Yatra festival after the Rath Yatra festivals in

and

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

are celebrated on the same day.

Attack on the temple during the 1969 Gujarat Riots

On 18 September 1969, a Muslim crowd gathered in the Jamalpur area to celebrate the local

Urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. ...

festival at the tomb of a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saint (Bhukhari Saheb's Chilla). When the

Sadhu ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively ...

s of the nearby Jagannath temple tried to bring their cows back to the temple compound through the crowded streets, some Muslim women were injured. The cows also allegedly damaged some carts on which the Muslims were selling goods. This led to violence in which some Muslim youths attacked and injured the sadhus, and damaged the temple windows. Sevadasji, the

mahant Mahant () is a religious superior, in particular the chief of a temple or the head of a monastery in Indian religions. James Mallinson, one of the few westerners to be named as a mahant, describes the position of a mahant as a combination of an ...

(priest) of the Hindu temple, went on a protest fast, which he gave up after a 15-member Muslim delegation led by A.M. Peerzada met him and apologized. However, subsequently, a ''dargah'' (tomb shrine) near the temple was damaged by some Hindus. A large number of Muslims protestors gathered in the area. On the afternoon of 19 September, a crowd of 2500-3000 Muslims attacked the temple again. Following this, the rumors spread and the violence escalated, resulting in several incidents of arson, murders and attacks on the places of worship around the area.

Connectivity

By Road - The city of

is well connected to every major city of

by roadways. lots of private and public buses ply to the Jagannnath Temple. By Air -

is connected to all major cities around the globe by airways.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport Ahmedabad Airport, officially Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport , is an international airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of India. The airport is the b ...

receive flights from all over the world. By Train -

city is also connected to the major cities of

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

Ahmedabad railway station Ahmedabad Junction railway station (station code: ADI), commonly known as Kalupur railway station, is the main railway station of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is also the biggest railway station within Gujarat and one of the major railway stat ...

receive trains from many cities. There is a train to Jagannnath temple from

References

{{Jagannath Hindu temples in Ahmedabad Jagannath temples

The Rath Yatra

Attack on the temple during the 1969 Gujarat Riots

Connectivity

See also

References