FESTIVAL OF CHARIOTS 2022 COMING TO LIVERPOOL!!!

By Jitendra   Diwakar

he Festival of Chariots is coming to Liverpool once again. Over the last 14 years, Liverpool. Liverpool has been hosting this exciting event which attracts people from all over greater Sydney and as far as Newcastle and other places. After a two year break due to COVID, the Festival of Chariots is returning to Liverpool for a fun filled day with colour, song, celebration and spirit of harmony. The day kicks off in Bigge Park, Bigge Street, Liverpool on Saturday 2nd July 2022 from 10 am.

Traditionally held in Puri, eastern India, where millions of people sing and dance in the procession, the festival now takes place in the cities all over the world. The festival starts in Bigge Park, followed by a street parade in the main streets of Liverpool. It will be celebrated in a grand manner showcasing the best of Indian culture, drama, music, colourful festivities and free delicious vegetarian lunch.

The festival truly represents what it means to live harmoniously in a multicultural society. One of the aim of the festival is to increase awareness of Indian Culture/Art and to promoting peace and harmony among the local community.

Everyone is welcome to join, irrespective of their background, colour, cast or religion. It is a very vibrant festival filled with so much fun and looking at the massive chariot draws a smile on everyone’s faces.

Befitting the religious sentiment of its origins, Rathayatra Festival reach out to the wider community and generate greater awareness and interest in India, its age old traditions and the unity in its amazing diversity. Rathayatra procession of Lord Krishna in His form of Jagannath, who has large eyes and features which display symptoms of ecstatic bliss. Lord Jagannath together with His brother Lord Baladeva and His sister Lady Subhadra, are pulled through the streets on the chariot.

The Vedic scriptures state that anyone who sees Lord Jagannath or pulls His chariots achieves immense spiritual benefit, attaining liberation from the bondage of the material world and entrance into the eternal blissful pastimes of the Lord. Anyone who has experienced the Rathayatra has surely experienced ecstasy. Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON – the Hare Krishna Movement, organised the first Rathayatra in the western world in 1967 in San Francisco. This Festival now takes place in cities all over the world.

Here in Australia the Festival of Chariots has its origins in a great parade held in Melbourne in 1972. This tradition has continued with many cities around Australia hosting the festival. In Liverpool, the festival has been celebrated annually for the past 14 years. The sound of kirtan, drums cymbals; singing and dancing on the streets of Liverpool city would be a familiar site for most. The large Chariot dressed in colourful canopies is pulled by festival goers from Bigge Park through Moore Street doing a short forty-five-minute loop around the city, finishing back in Bigge Park for a sumptuous traditional feast. You all are welcome – free admission, free lunch and have a fun-packed day! Bring along your friends and families