As the Ratha Yatra festival is centred around the Rath (chariot) journey of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, it is referred to as the ‘Rath aYatra’.. It is a nine-day annual journey of the Gods, hence it is also called the ‘Nabadina Jatra’.
Jagannatha is also revered as the incarnation of nine planets. It is believed by some researchers that Ratha Yatra or Nabadina Yatra is held in reverence for the nine planets. Some of the devotees describe Jagannatha as Nabagraha Roopi Janardhana roopa. His eyes are the Moon and Sun, his lips are red- Mangala(Mars), Ratharudha Jagannatha Baman -Buddha(Mercury), pita bastra- Brihaspati(Jupiter), premamohita kala -Shukra(Venus), kala barna- Shani(Saturn), asampurna abayaba- Rahu and Ketu.
In Shri Gundicha Mandira the puja of Lord Jagannatha during the Nabadina Ratha Yatra is performed in a specific manner . Each day is taken as a symbol of a planet. Gundicha and Bahuda days are reserved for Rahu and Ketu. It is believed that If one prays with Navadha Bhakti (nine types of devotion listed in the scriptures), then he or she receives benediction of graha rupi janardhana Lord Jagannath and gets salvation from the cycle of births and deaths(jiba chakra).
It is said that without the soul, this body is nothing more than nine holes or Nabadwara. Naba graha, Nabaratna, Nabavidhaa Bhakti, Naba rasa, Atharanala, Gundicha mandir’s Naba bedi, Lord Jagannatha’s Nabadina Yatra are all interrelated. Srimandira is built on four Shiba kona (or corners) and five Shakti kona : Nine basic triangles. It’s height: Roof is 180ft 1+8+0= 9 . In India, the number 108 = 9 is a sacred number, suggesting completeness or wholeness. Multiplying by nine reveals a mirror symmetry among numbers. If any number is multiplied by nine the resulting digits always add to nine. For example 2 x 9 = 18; 3 x 9 = 27, 4 x 9 = 36 and so on. Thus, the Hebrews referred to nine as the symbol of immutable Truth.
When devising repetitions of a mantra or a practice or information, ancient Hindus simply repeated at least 9 times or a multiple of 9 times. This, 18, 21, 108, 1,008, 10,800, etc. have been used.
The number 9 has been widely observed in different contexts. Thus there are 108 cow girls (gopî) devoted to Lord Krishna, 108 holy places of the Vaishnavas, 108 beads on the Hindu and Buddhist rosary or prayer beads, and there are 108 Upanishads, The Puranas and important Upa-Puranas are 18 in numbers. There are also 18 Dharmasastras. The Mahabharata contains 100,000 stanzas, divided into 18 Parvans (chapters). The Mahabharata war was fought with 18 divisions of the army, 11 on the Kaurava side and seven on the Pandavas. The war lasted for 18 days. The Buddhists know of 108 arhats or “worthy ones.” According to Indian mythology, there are 4 Yugs
Satyug – consists of 172,800 years (1+7+2+8 = 18 == (1+8 = 9)
TretaYug consists of 1296000 years (1+2+9+6 = 18 = (1+8 = 9)
DwaparYug consists of 864000 years (8+4+6) = 18 = (1+8 = 9)
Kaliyug consists of 432000 years (4+3+2) = 9 .
In Numerology, the spiritual meaning of number Nine bring us to the very height of vibrational frequencies in this number sequence. Nine represents attainment, satisfaction, accomplishment, and our success to achieve an influence in our circumstances. The spiritual meaning of number Nine deals with intellectual power, inventiveness, influence over situations and things.
