The Rath Yatra was celebrated with much pomp and grandeur in the historical city
of Jeypore in south Odisha which served as the capital of the powerful Suryavanshis who ruled over the greater part of Kalinga for much of their history. During their heydays, the
solar kings venerated Lord Jagannath as the prime deity of their kingdom that significantly helped them in building cordiality with the local Odia masses.
Puri, the home of Lord Jagannath has always been one of the most significant pilgrimages of Hindu religion and the culturally recognised seat of the Gajapati or the regional king.
Evidently, once upon a time the king of Jeypore occupied a much larger territory than the Gajapati of Puri but could not achieve the same reverence and respect owing to the latter’s
cultural significance. Therefore, to claim superiority, one king of Jeypore (either Vishwambhar Dev or Raghunath Krishna Dev) ordered the priests to delay the movement of the chariot for a day.
This was explained by the priests that on the first day the deities are present in the
chariot of Puri. However, on the next day they arrive in the chariot of Jeypore to bless the
Maharaja and his subjects. In a political sense, the move was to maintain equivalence with
the Gajapati’s religious superiority.
In the following years, the festival of Rath Yatra spread not only Jeypore but also in
Visakhapatnam and other parts of Andhra. During the reign of Maharaja Sree Vikram
Dev III Bahadur KCIE, sandalwood plantation was patronised by the estate and many sandalwood saplings were brought from Mysore.
The estate then distributed the saplings to Nayaks (tribal heads) of Nandapur, Koraput,
Jeypore and Lamtaput to plant them across the district. Sources said sandalwood
plantations over 10,000 hectares were carried out in the early 50s in the forest ranges
of Jeypore, Nandapur and Koraput.
The aim was to meet sandalwood requirements of temples across Jeypore kingdom. On special occasions like Rath Yatra and Dussehra, pieces of sandalwood were also provided to the Jagannath temple in Puri and State’s popular Devi shrines as gifts. In Jeypore itself there was a large chariot made of sandalwood as per the hearsay of the
old inhabitants. Nevertheless, Rath Yatra and Dussehra have always been the most popular
festivals of southern Odisha and even in 2024 the festival of Lord Jagannath is celebrated
with the same zest and enthusiasm like it was in earlier.
