From the very first time I visited Puri in Orissa, India, I had this craving in my heart to hug Lord Jagannath… Dancing girls at Rathayatra Festival Lord Jagannath is one of the forms of God worshiped in the gaudiya vaishnava, or bhakti yoga tradition. His name means 'Lord of The Universe'. His deity in Puri in made of neem wood and is over six feet tall. Hundreds and thousands of pilgrims come to see Lord Jagannath every year at the Rathayatra festival, when he comes out of his temple. Everyone dances in front of his cart; many hoping for a hug. But only very, very few of his devotees get one. What is a hug? A hug simply exists to feel a person’s love, to bring you comfort, to make your depression go away, to break the distance between you and the person you love. I kept telling my mom how much I miss Jagannath after our Puri parikrama, which is a 19 km pilgrimage walk around Puri, the origin of Lord Jagannath. I’ve had this feeling since I saw Ja...
Women's Spiritual Poetry