Our Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) is coming up in less than 3 weeks and the festivities kick off this Sunday with the annual Gundica Cleanup (Temple Cleanup) and Snana-Yatra (Bathing festival) festivals!
Every year, before the Ratha-Yatra festival, the temple is lovingly cleaned by the devotees. This is following the example set by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who held the first Gundica Cleanup some 500 years ago. The famous Ratha-Yatra parade in Jagannatha Puri begins at the Jagannatha Puri temple and proceeds all the way till the Gundica Temple. Preparing for the arrival of Lord Jagannatha, Caitanya Mahaprabhu with His associates personally cleaned the entire temple.
The clean-up will start at 10:30am in the temple room and will continue till 2:00pm. Special Lunch (prasadam) will be provided for those who come out to help clean!
The clean-up will be followed by the Snana-Yatra festival starting at 4:30pm.
A warm invitation goes out to you and your family to join in the wonderful celebrations of Gundica Cleanup and Snana-Yatra festivals this upcoming Sunday!