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Rath Yatra Festival Puri

The annual Rath Yatra Festival at the Jagannath Temple is the biggest festival. It usually takes place in the lunar month of Aashadha in June-July. The festival is celebrated as the sacred journey of the Lord Jagannath along with Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra to Gundicha Temple, just 2 kms away in Puri. Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra are adorned lavishly along with grandly embellished chariots. The three deities are drawn from the Srimandir Temple. Lord Jagannath’s chariot, is the tallest about 13 m. It has 16 wheels each 2m in diameter. Subhadra has a yellow face and rides in a red chariot. Balabhadra has a white face and rides in a chariot with 14 wheels and 4 horses. This religious process of moving the three deities from one temple to another is popularly celebrated as the Rath Yatra. The chariot is drawn by around 4000 people accompanied by more than 200,000 pilgrims, Pandas or the priests and musicians. The Rath Yatra is the prime attraction of Puri when millions of devotees assemble to capture the auspicious sight and to seek blessing. After reaching the Gundicha Temple, the chariot provides darshan to the devotees everyday. The chariots return to the Jaggannath Temple after a period of rest of 8 days.

After the festival, the raths are broken andthe pieces are used for firewood in the kitchens. Some pieces are also sold to pilgrims as relics.