AustinOdia community members and volunteers started the construction of a new Ratha at Austin Hindu Temple (AHT) premises in December of 2019. Ratha volunteers worked hard to complete the construction by June 2020. By Lord’s grace the Ratha was completed on time and Jagannatha Parivar rode the new Ratha on Ratha Yatra 2020 (celebrated at AHT on June 27, 2020).
The achievement of this monumental task is a testament to the dedication and camaraderie of Austin Odia Community and its many volunteers.
The Ratha construction team was led by
Prashanta Ranabijuli
Ajit Sahu
Soumya Das
and supported by many many volunteers of the community. The community also built a storage for our new Ratha. See here for Storage construction.
6/27/2020
6/26/2020
6/24/2020
6/20/2020
6/14/2020
6/13/2020
6/13/2020
6/07/2020
5/24/2020
5/23/2020
4/11/2020
3/28/2020
03/22/2020
03/08/2020
Ratha moved to storage
02/08/2020
Yet another day of excellent progress. All four plywood pieces were put in place and nailed. Dome work starts next week.
02/01/2020
Very good progress. Hurricane hangers were attached, remaining 2 x 4s were joined, one plywood was put in place. Posts were sanded down and rope test was successful.
01/25/2020
Thanks to the fantastic work by young volunteers (children of the community) priming work was completed ahead of schedule. One segment of the railings was completed.
01/18/2020
Great progress was made today, all the posts have now been raised and tied crosswise.
01/11/2020
Productive day. Most of the posts tied and raised lengthwise after careful leveling.
01/05/2020
01/01/2020
Another productive day by the Ratha Construction team. Nine wheels have been fitted so far, five more to go. In addition, several posts have been cut to sizes.
12/14/2019
Wheel positions determined and attachment of chassis done.
12/08/2019
Lumbers for base structure were put in position and joints were made
12/01/2019
Ratha construction anukul Puja was performed at AHT on 12/01/2019. After seeking blessings from Maa Laxmi, volunteers proceeded to Ratha construction site where another Puja was performed.
Ratha Storage
The community needed a storage for the new Ratha. Although, the construction work was done by contractors, our community volunteers spent numerous hours designing the storage area, procuring material and working with the contractors. By the Grace of the Lord, just as with the Ratha, our storage area was completed on time.
On 12/01/2019, a Bhumi puja was performed at the storage site where the new Ratha is now kept.
