Puri - Rath Yatra

The Rath Yatra is one of India's greatest annual events! It takes place in June or July in Puri and across Orissa. The Rath Yatra festival originated in the city of Puri based around the worship of Lord Jagannath and the ancient temple.

The deities Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra are worshipped within the temple, but on this one day the legndary procession takes to the streets so that every resident has the opportunity to encounter them. This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra to their aunt' s temple - Gundicha. The gods remain at Gundicha Temple for seven days and then the procession is repeated.

This massive celebration has thousands dancing in front of the deities as they proceed through the streets. The Car Festival as it is also known involves 4,000 temple employees pulling the cars. After the festival, the cars are broken up and used for firewood in the temple kitchen or for funeral pyre fires.