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Bali Ratha Yatra
From Kavicandra Swami
Posted September 15, 2004

On July 27, 2004, the auspicious day of Lord Jagannatha's return Ratha Yatra in Puri, the devotees in Bali, Indonesia, held their first full-size public Ratha Yatra. Special guests present for the inauguration included the following:

Bali Vice Governor, IGN Alit Kusuma Kelakan;
The Chaiman Of Sabha Pandita Indonesian Parisadha, Pedanda Ketut Subali Tianyar Arimbawa;
The Bali Parisdha Chairman, Mr. I Made Arta;
The Representative of World Hindu Youth Concult, Mr. Ramachandran;
From Intellectual Hindu Indonesian Youth, Mr Arya Weda Karna Suyasa;
Bali Parliament Representative, Mr. Alit Bagiasna.

They all spoke with great appreciation for the devotees and the Mahamantra.

Everyone was surprised to see how many devotees were present (well over 1,000) as the parade moved down a major street towards the beach for the closing ceremonies.

The pictures tell it best. Tomorrow will be a big kite festival, where the devotees will be flying a 6.5-meter Lord Jagannatha kite. The tail is 150 meters long.

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