Akshay Tritya

/Akshay Tritya
Akshay Tritya2024-05-13T10:40:14+00:00

Akshay Tritya

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  • Akshay Tritya - 21 days festival to adorn deities with sandalwood paste. Starts from 10 May 2024

    Candana Yatra is a festival during the hot season in India in which the Deities are covered with sandalwood paste (candana) to cool Them. (This is generally impractical in the West, where it is cold during this time.)

    For 21 days with the Utsava Vigrahas covered in chandan. The Deities are covered completely with chandan(sandalwood paste), which provides the Lord relief from the scorching heat of summer in the month of Vaisakha/Jyestha (May/June).

    Once, Lord Jagannatha instructed the ancient King Indradyumna to perform this festival on this occasion. Smearing the body of the Lord with ointments is an act of devotion, and the best of balms is said to be sandalwood paste. Since heat in the month of Vaisakha is extreme in India, the cooling effect of sandalwood paste would be pleasing to the Lord.

    Sandalwood paste is applied all over the body of Lord Jagannatha leaving only his two eyes exposed. The Utsava Vigrahas (functional Deities – Vijay Utsav) are taken on procession and placed in a boat in the temple pond. To commemorate this festival, Lord Caitanya also performed water sport with his devotees.
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