Ratha Jatra is the festival of Odisha. On the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha, Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra are brought out of the temple at Puri, carried swaying to three enormous wooden chariots, and pulled by hundreds of thousands of hands along the three kilometres of the Grand Road to the Gundicha temple. They stay nine days and return. The word "juggernaut" comes from this.
The story
The images are of neem wood, with round eyes and no hands or feet, unlike any others in India, and are replaced every twelve or nineteen years. On the full moon a fortnight before, they are bathed with a hundred and eight pots of water, fall ill, and are kept out of sight; the Ratha Jatra is their first appearance after recovery.
Before the chariots move, the Gajapati king of Puri sweeps their platforms with a gold-handled broom, the Chhera Pahanra: before Jagannath, the king is a sweeper.
ଜଗନ୍ନାଥଃ ସ୍ୱାମୀ ନୟନପଥଗାମୀ ଭବତୁ ମେ
May Jagannath, the Lord, be ever before my eyes
The refrain of the Jagannathashtakam
How the festival goes
- PahandiThe deities are brought out in a rocking, rhythmic procession to gongs and conches.
- Chhera PahanraThe king sweeps the chariots.
- PullingNandighosa of Jagannath has sixteen wheels and red-and-yellow canopy; Taladhwaja of Balabhadra, fourteen, red and green; Darpadalana of Subhadra, twelve, red and black.
- Hera PanchamiOn the fifth day Lakshmi, left behind, comes to Gundicha in a temper and breaks a piece of Jagannath's chariot.
- BahudaThe return journey on the ninth day, stopping at the Mausi Maa temple for poda pitha.
- Niladri BijeThe gods re-enter the temple; Jagannath offers Lakshmi rasagola to be let in.
Why this date
Ratha Jatra is the Dwitiya of the bright fortnight of Ashadha, on the day it is present at sunrise.
Ratha Jatra in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Thursday | |
| 2027 | Monday | |
| 2028 | Saturday | |
| 2029 | Friday | |
| 2030 | Tuesday | |
| 2031 | Sunday |
More Odia festivals
14 JulyHari Sayana Ekadasiହରି ଶୟନ ଏକାଦଶୀ
15 JuneRajaରଜ
8 MayAkshaya Tritiyaଅକ୍ଷୟ ତୃତୀୟା
18 JulyGuru Purnimaଗୁରୁ ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣିମା
20 AprilHanuman Jayantiହନୁମାନ ଜୟନ୍ତୀ
17 AugustGamha Purnimaଗହ୍ମା ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣିମା
Where to see Ratha Jatra
In Odisha
- Bada Danda, PuriOdishaThe Grand Road, from the Lion Gate to Gundicha: the festival itself.
- BaripadaOdishaCalled the second Puri; here Subhadra's chariot is pulled only by women.
- Gundicha Temple, PuriOdishaThe garden house where the gods spend their nine days.
- RaghurajpurOdishaThe painters' village near Puri, whose pattachitra artists paint the substitute images for the gods' fortnight of illness.
Across India
- AhmedabadGujaratThe Jagannath temple's Rath Yatra, the largest outside Odisha.
- Mahesh, SeramporeWest BengalA Rath Yatra held since the fourteenth century.
- KolkataWest BengalThe ISKCON Rath Yatra, begun in 1972, which has since been taken round the world.