Bada Danda
ରଥଯାତ୍ରା
The journey has a rope.
Taladhwaja leads. Darpadalana follows. Nandighosha comes last, so the city can walk with the brother and sister ahead of Mahaprabhu. Drag the rope.
Jagannath
ନନ୍ଦିଘୋଷ
Nandighosha
Sixteen wheels · red and yellow · Daruka drives · he moves last
The tall canopy of Mahaprabhu. The sixteen wheels are read as the sixteen kalas. Garuda is the crest the city looks for. On the yatra day this is the chariot the Bada Danda fills around, because the Lord has come down last.
Balabhadra
ତାଳଧ୍ୱଜ
Taladhwaja
Fourteen wheels · red and green · Matali drives · he moves first
A palm-tree banner, a green canopy, fourteen wheels read as the fourteen worlds. The elder leaves the lion gate before the others. If you are on the road early, this is the first dome you see roll.
Subhadra
ଦର୍ପଦଳନ
Darpadalana
Twelve wheels · black and red · Arjuna drives · also called Devadalana
The crushing of pride, and in the Sarala Mahabharata the Padmadhwaja. Twelve wheels, the months. She rides between her brothers. The chariot is new each year, like the other two, and it is taken down when the yatra is over.
The fortnight
From the bath to the door
1 · Jyeshtha Purnima
Snana Yatra
The deities are bathed in public on the Snana Vedi. It is the last open sight of the wooden forms before they withdraw.
2 · The days after the bath
Anasara
The Lord is understood to be fevered. The forms are repainted out of view. Pati dian — painted cloths — stand in for darshan.
3 · Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya
Rath Yatra
Pahandi down the twenty-two steps. Then about three kilometres along the Bada Danda to Gundicha, the house of their aunt.
4 · Ashadha Shukla Panchami
Hera Panchami
Lakshmi comes to Gundicha. The rite plays her anger at being left in the temple.
5 · Ashadha Shukla Dashami
Bahuda
The return. The chariots face Shree Mandira again.
6 · The day after Bahuda
Suna Besha
Gold, worn on the chariots, where the city can see it. There are other golden beshas in the year; this is the one the yatra is known by.
7 · Before the re-entry
Adhara Pana
Tall pots of a sweet offering are raised to the chariots.
8 · Close of the yatra
Niladri Bije
Re-entry. Lakshmi receives him at the door — a quarrel, then the house is open. The chariots’ work is finished, and they are taken apart.