The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, abbreviated as ISKCON, known colloquially as the Movement of Hare Krishna, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its main headquarters are located today in West Bengal, India.
The Ratha Yatraof Puri, also rendered as the Ratha Jatra, is considered the oldest and largest Hindu chariot festival celebrated annually, on the bright half of the lunar month of Ashadh (June–July). The festival is held at the city of Puri, in the state of Odisha, India and associated with the deity Jagannath. During the festival, three deities are drawn by a multitude of devotees in three massive, wooden chariots on bada danda to Gundicha Temple whereby they reside there for a week and then return to the Jagnannath temple. This return trip is referred to as the Bahuda Yatra.
Temple cars or Temple chariots are used to carry representations of Hindu gods around the streets of the temple on festival days. These chariots are generally manually pulled by the devotees of the deity.
The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu–one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. It is located in Puri in the state of Odisha, situated on the eastern coast of India. King Indradyumna of Avanti built the main temple of Jagannath at Puri. The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth century onwards, on the site of the pre-existing temples in the compound, but not the main Jagannath temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. Many rumours are spread about the temple's origin, but there is no solid evidence of it. The temple is one of the 108 Abhimana Kshethram of the Vaishnavite tradition.
Kashi Math is a matha (monastery) and a spiritual organisation followed by the Madhva section of Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, who are also referred as Madhwa Saraswat Brahmins or Vaishnava Saraswat Brahmins. It dates back to the 16th century. With its headquarters in Brahma Ghat, Varanasi. Kashi Math has followers all over the Konkan belt, prominently in Mumbai, Goa, Udupi, Mangalore, Kochi and other parts of Karnataka and Kerala.
Ratha is the Indo-Iranian term for a spoked-wheel chariot or a cart. The term has been used since antiquity for both fast chariots and other wheeled vehicles pulled by animals or humans, in particular the large temple cars or processional carts still used in Indian religious processions to carry images of a deity.
The Rathayatra of Mahesh is the oldest chariot festival in Bengal, and is said to have been celebrated since 1396. The first temple of Jagannath Deb was built by Raja Manohar Roy Of Sheoraphuli Raj who also denoted large portion of land in establishing the Jagganathpur Mouza. It is held in Mahesh, a historical locality within Serampore in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a week-long festival and a grand fair is held at that time. People throng to have a share in pulling the long ropes (Rosshi) attached to the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra on the journey from the temple to Mahesh Gundicha Bari and back within 8th day.
Ramakrishna Paramhansa Deva had sixteen direct disciples who became monks of the Ramakrishna Order; they are often considered his apostles. In the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement, the apostles have played an important role. Apart from Swami Vivekananda, the direct disciples or apostles of Ramakrishna were as follows.
Girish Chandra Ghosh was a Bengali actor, director, and writer. He was largely responsible for the golden age of Bengali theatre. He cofounded the Great National Theatre, the first Bengali professional theatre company in 1872, wrote nearly 40 plays and acted and directed many more, and later in life became a noted householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.
Udupi Shri Krishna Temple is a well-known historic Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna and Dvaita Matha located in the city of Udupi in Karnataka, India. The Matha area resembles a living Aashram, a holy place for daily devotion and living. Surrounding the Shri Krishna Temple are several temples namely the Udupi Anantheshwara Temple which is over a thousand years old.
Guptipara is a census town in Balagarh, a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Sadar subdivision of the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Balaram Bose was one of the prominent householder disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He was the son of Radhamohan Bose. He is often referred in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna often visited his house and participated in kirtana and other devotional functions. Sri Maa Sarada Devi and some other devotees of the master, including Swami Adbhutananda lived in the house of Balaram Bose after the master's death. He was a great philanthropist and donated regularly to government and civilian organizations.
Yātrā, in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated with Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, and other sacred pilgrimage sites. Visiting a sacred place is believed by the pilgrim to purify the self and bring one closer to the divine. The journey itself is as important as the destination, and the hardships of travel serve as an act of devotion in themselves.
Gundicha Temple, is a Hindu temple, situated in the temple town of Puri in the state of Odisha, India. It is significant for being the destination of the celebrated annual Rath Yatra of Puri. While it remains vacant most of the year, the temple is occupied by images of the deities of Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra for seven complete days every year during the annual Rath Yatra festival.
Dhamrai Jagannath Roth is a chariot temple or Ratha Yatra, a Roth, dedicated to the Hindu God Jagannath located in Dhamrai, Bangladesh. The annual Jagannath Roth Jatra is a famous Hindu festival attracting thousands of people. The Roth Jatra in Dhamrai is one of the most important events for the Hindu community of Bangladesh. Sri Jagannath is believed by the Hindus to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, one among the Holy Hindu Trinity of Gods. Lord Jagannath is also believed to be a deity form of Lord Krishna.
Shri Shri Hari Baladev Jew Bije is a famous Hindu temple located in Baripada, Mayurbhanj district, in the state of Odisha, India. The name Jagannath is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat (Universe) and Nath.
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 involve a public procession with a chariot with deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana Chakra on a ratha, a wooden deula-shaped chariot.
Gopaler Ma was a devotee and a householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, the saint and mystic from Bengal. Her birth name was Aghoremani Devi, but she came to be known as Gopaler Ma among the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, owing to her intense motherly love for Sri Ramakrishna as "Gopala" or baby Krishna. She was famous for her divine visions of Lord Krishna as a baby and her devotion to the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna. In her later years, she was very close to Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita. She spent the last few years of her life with Sister Nivedita.
Suna Besha, also known as Rajadhiraja beshaRaja Besha and Rajarajeshwara Besha, is an event when the Hindu deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are adorned with gold jewelry. Suna Bhesha is observed 5 times during a year. It is commonly observed on [pousha purnima ] Purnima (January), Bahuda Ekadashi (July), Dashahara (October), Kartik Purnima (November), and Dola Purnima (march). The name Suna Bhesha is derived from two words, 'Suna' meaning "gold" and 'Bhesha' meaning "costume".
