This is a story about how the Grand Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra began. Jagannath is the one who is the Lord of the cosmos, the soul within, the Infinity.
Once there lived a man in the city of Puri in Bharat. He was a true devotee of Lord Krishna and could experience his opulent form within his heart. At the same, he even had the wish to see the Form before him, a palpable majesty. He was not allowed to enter the temple premises as he was an untouchable. One day, he was quite anxious and wished to see Lord. He went to the shore of the sea and began praying to Lord. He was merged in his thoughts, that suddenly someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned around but couldn’t find anyone. This occurred several times. Then, he heard a voice, which asked him to go the temple and see the Form. He said that he would not be allowed to enter. The voice insisted and he went to the pandit with an appeal. The pandit denied, and banished him from the premises. He returned back to the shore with a sad heart, and sat at the shore. The voice said that it was fine, He would show the Form to the man. In the temple, the bell rang, and the time of the evening prayers commenced. The idol in the temple tilted towards the direction of the sea, where the man was sitting. Several brahmins were assembled for the prayers. The other pandit held the idol tightly and placed the garlands and offerings at his feet. And, suddenly, the idol shook gravely and disappeared into thin air.
The assembled devotees were shocked. The pandits were horrified. They ran outside and saw the man sitting at the shore. They saw him speaking to the air. The pandits thought that he was an insane. As they progressed towards him, they saw that he was not speaking rather Lord was speaking. Lord was saying that from that day onwards, He would roam in the entire town, and show his sweet form to all his devotees, and the pandits could not close Him in a closet. The conversation amazed all the people. They prostrated at that very site and asked for forgiveness. But, soon the voice disappeared and only that man could see Lord.
They all ran to that man, and asked for the forgiveness, and promised never to stop anyone to enter the temple. The man was dipped in tears of deep love and said “come” to Lord. He held the invisible hands of Lord and walked towards the temple. The people could not see the deity, could just feel the presence through the expressions of the man. As he entered the temple, the invisible form took the magnificent form and established at the alter. The people were amazed, seeing the feats.
From that day, the custom of Rath Yatra began, and the bonds of caste and gender were abolished. All could see and adore Krishna.