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Ratha-yatra, or the Festival of Chariots, is a joyous event celebrated for thousands of years in the Indian holy city of Jagannatha Puri, and more recently by Hare Krishna devotees in cities around the world. Another name for Krishna, Jagannatha refers to the ecstatic form of the Lord with large eyes and rugged features who is carried on a gigantic chariot during this festival (and worshiped in an ancient temple at the center of Jagannath Puri.)
As the story goes, Lord Krishna once overheard a conversation about how His dearest devotees, the cowherd maidens of Vrindavana, were lamenting in His absence. When He heard these accounts of overwhelming love in separation, the Lord’s hair began to stand on end, His eyes opened wide and filled with tears, and His arms and legs contracted as He went into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Seeing Lord Krishna in this condition, His elder brother, Balarama (Baladeva), also began to feel ecstatic symptoms and displayed similar features. When Their sister, Subhadra, arrived at the scene, she too became consumed with ecstatic joy. Thus the sublime deity forms of Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva represent this sweet pastime.
The festival of Ratha-yatra represents Lord Jagannatha’s longing to reunite with His dear devotees in Vrindavana, foremost among them, Srimati Radharani. According to tradition, the Lord gets lovesick once a year just prior to the festival. To cheer him up, His servants arrange for Him to go on a lavish procession to meet up with His devotees. Lord Jagannatha rides on a grand, three-story-high chariot, accompanied by thousands of onlookers and marching bands with scores of drummers, singers, and dancers. India’s colonial British rulers coined the term “juggernaut” from the large, heavy chariot used to celebrate this festival in the city of Jagannatha Puri.
Five hundred years ago, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the combined incarnation of Radha-Krishna, encouraged all of His followers to celebrate Ratha-yatra with great enthusiasm. His biographies (such as Chaitanya Charitamrita) list many anecdotes surrounding the Ratha-yatra festival. It is said that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu got down on His hands and knees to scrub the Gundicha temple where Lord Jagannatha would stay at the end of the Ratha-yatra parade.
Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, was very fond of Ratha-yatra. As a child he began celebrating Ratha-yatra when he was five years old, using a small home-made cart and pulling it around the neighborhood with his friends. Later in life, from 1967 until his passing, Srila Prabhupada joined thousands of disciples in cities around the world as they celebrated elaborate Ratha-yatra chariot festivals in the streets of London, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and on New York’s prestigious Fifth Avenue.
Today, Hare Krishna devotees hold Ratha-yatra parades in many cities, usually culminating in a “Festival of India” set up in a city park, with festival tents, entertainment stages, free-feast booths, and a variety of cultural displays and exhibits. Contact your nearest Hare Krishna temple to find out about Ratha-yatras in your area.
Ratha-yatra signifies the Lord’s love for His devotees. He personally comes to visit His devotees and the public who welcome Him in the streets. Befitting the sentiment of its origins, Ratha-yatras in the Hare Krishna movement also serve as reunions for devotees who come from far and wide to participate, meeting up with old friends around their common goal of serving Lord Jagannatha, Sri Krishna.

Dhunachi is an Indian incense burner (commonly used in conjunction with Indian Frankincense or "Dhuno" for traditional ceremonies) used for one of the stages during arati, or ritualized dance worship. It is often used following the arati with the pradip (a lamp with an odd number of wicks).

The dhunachi has a flared shape and is held by a stem with a large cavity at the top, and is traditionally made of earthenware. When made of brass or silver, it needs a longer handle because of the heat. It is lit by placing burning coal at the bottom, which ignites a layer of slow-burning coconut husk, on which incense (usually resin like Indian Frankincense or "Dhuno"is sprinkled.

During the Durga puja in eastern India, it is common to have dhunuchi nritya, or a frenzied dance with the censer, to the accompaniment of feverish dhak rolls. Many puja traditions also organize contests for the best dance, where some performers may go with as many as three dhunuchis - the third one held between the teeth. Dhunachi arati also known as
"dhoop arati".

The ‘khaja’ of Puri is as legendary as the Lord Himself is. Or for that matter, the beaches of the holy town are. Since the beginning of Jagannath culture, ‘khaja’, a sweet item, has found place as one of the major ‘prasad’ of the three deities of the Jagannath Temple also known as Shree Mandir. And the love of ‘khaja’ or the aura around it has not diminished one bit, despite a sea change in the likes of people in general. Rather, day by day, the craze of ‘khaja’ has grown among the local people and tourists.
Generally, two kinds of ‘prasad’ is prepared and served to the residing deities of the temple. Sankhudibhog or the cooked prasad includes a variety of rice, lentils, curries, kheer and many other preparations without using onion and garlic. Similarly, sukhilabhog or dry prasad includes different kinds of dry and sweet confectionaries like khaja, magajaladdu and a dozen of more choices.

As history has it, the sweet and crunchy ‘khaja’ prepared from refined flour and sugar used to be prepared in large quantities and distributed among the devotees after being served to Lord Jagannath and other deities.ent declaration, the State Government has granted industry status to Khaja, thus making it flexible for the entire production and procurement process of this sweet delicacy. In order to facilitate the Khaja business, this is really an amazing move on part of the Government and the decision has duly been welcomed by both the shop owners as well as the local residents. That apart, in the near future, there might also be plans for application of Geographic Indication tag for Khaja.

Ever since we humans knew religion, the ‘Aadi Shakti’, the goddess represented purity, fertility and prosperity. Mythology and religious sentiments have always found association in Goddess statues. Most of the religions including the so-called Pagan cults have adorned the sacred feminine and this found vent in some of the most breath-takingly sculpted goddess statues. They are considered luck charms. Our collection of Goddess statues are intricately carved representations of the sacred feminine spirit.
Brass, a perfect union of copper and zinc, is used since 500 BC. Our exquisite collection of brass statues captures the eternal, ethereal beauty of brass in timeless pieces of art. An art form that can enhance the ornate allure of interiors be it home, office or just about any place. No tastefully done interior is complete without a brass statue or sculpture. Connoisseurs place brass artwork in all together a different bracket, defined by no other art form. These religious statues are perfect imitation of our artisans skill.
Indian artisans make various types of brass artifacts, acclaimed as much for their beauty and strength of form as their utility. Highly skilled artisans, put in their greatest devotion to render- fine quality, impeccable finish and a graceful persona to the sculptures.

The tonic of the bansuri is the note sounded when 3 finger holes are closed, 6 holes closed determines the key. The same flute may be referred to by either its tonic or key.
Bansuri, Murali, Venu all are the name of Indian woodwind instrument flute. Indian bamboo flutes are the one of the oldest musical instruments of India. The Hindu God Krishna is traditionally considered a master of the Bansuri or Flute. The bansuri is made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with six or seven finger holes. The Indian flutes are very simple compared to the western counterparts, they are made of bamboo and are keyless. And flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across of opening. The fingers of both hands are used to close and open the holes. It has a blowing hole near one end, and eight closely placed finger holes.
There are two varieties of bansuri or flutes: transverse, and fipple. The fipple flute is usually played in folk music and is held at the lips like a whistle. Because it enables superior control, variations and embellishments, the transverse variety is preferred in Indian classical music. The size of a Bansuri affects its pitch. Longer bansuris with a larger bore have a lower pitch and the slimmer and shorter ones sound higher. In order to play the diatonic scale on a bansuri, one needs to find where the notes lie. For example, in a bansuri where Sa or the tonic is always played by closing the first three holes, is equivalent to D, one can play sheet music by creating a finger notation that corresponds to different notes.
Please Note:- All flutes are in natural bamboo colour, and flutes may have some visible spots, scratches because they are not polished or coloured. These flutes are tuned to respective scales regardless the factor whether they are straight or have any minor bend. Each and every one of DronaCraft’s flute is built with a keen eye for tuning, tone and quality.

Classical Indian hand percussion Damru is well known folk instrument for drumming in all over India. Damru is mainly made in wood, metal or skull with both ends covered by animal skin (goat skin) crossed tied-up strings or cords made from cotton, leather or jute. Damru is an hour glass shaped drum, typically played with the bare hands, a player wave the instrument by twisting the wrist back and forth. A Damru player adjusts the pitch of the instrument by adjusting the pressure that is applied to these strings.
Damro is associated with Hindu God Lord Shiva, it is Lord Shiva favourite musical instrument that is why Damru is also known as a power drum, which invokes spiritual energy.

Karatal is a hand percussion instrument from India. This karatal pair is another form of manjira or hand cymbal. This kartal pair is consist of a wooden frame with two long, straight handles that connect to each other with two short wooden handles; the open space between the long handles has a wooden separator that separates two rows of three brass cymbal. There are also small cymbals fixed into wood blocks forming another type of instrument.

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Ghungroo