A Chariot Festival Introduces WISE to Columbia.
On a blistering September Saturday at Stephens Lake Park, more than 100 people grabbed two long ropes and pulled a 25-foot wooden chariot through the park’s upper lot. Drums and hand cymbals kept time. Voices rose in a chant. From the chariot, priests tossed fruit and nuts into the crowd as blessings.
It was Columbia’s first Chariot Festival of Joy. For many in attendance, it was also their introduction to WISE.
WISE, short for Wisdom in Spiritual Education, is a Columbia nonprofit founded last December by Niraj and Rachna Arora. It draws inspiration from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), widely known as the Hare Krishna movement. Its mission centers on spiritual education rooted in the Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic texts, with an emphasis on service, gratitude, and a community that works together toward shared goals. Its longer-term vision even includes a sustainable local food system.
The festival draws on one of India’s oldest traditions. Ratha Yatra, the chariot festival, has been celebrated for centuries in the coastal city of Puri, where massive chariots carry the deities Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra through the streets. The idea is simple and generous: Once a year, the divine leaves the temple to meet the people.
“Sometimes we aren’t ready to reach out to others or ask for help,” Rachna Arora said. “At this festival, God himself came out of the temple to meet people. And when you pull the rope, it’s a team effort. It’s about letting go of the negativity and letting the positivity in.”
Photos by Evie Tindell
Volunteers traveled from St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, and even North Carolina, the source of the chariot. Donors helped fund the day. Guests heard a talk by Danavir Goswami of Rupanuga Vedic College in Kansas City, enjoyed henna and children’s activities, and shared a free vegetarian feast.
The event also points to something larger. Columbia’s Indian community has been growing for decades, and much of that story runs through the University of Missouri. The Cultural Association of India at MU dates to 1957, making it the oldest Indian student organization on campus. Its annual India Nite brings students and community members together for music, dance, and food. Across the state, India is now the leading source of international students.
Off campus, families gather at Shanthi Mandir Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri on Holly Avenue. Founded in 2005, it is the only Hindu temple in the region. It hosts regular pujas, language and arts classes, and holiday celebrations.
Those celebrations fill the calendar. Navratri brings nine nights of Garba, a circular dance anyone can join. Diwali, the festival of lights, arrives in autumn with lamps, sweets, and fireworks. Holi welcomes spring with clouds of colored powder. Janmashtami marks the birth of Krishna in late summer. Many of these events are open to anyone curious enough to show up.
That openness may be the best way to understand WISE. The chariot at Stephens Lake Park didn’t move because of one person. It moved because dozens of people, many of them strangers, picked up the same rope.
For a growing community in a growing city, that’s a good place to start.
