The Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra holds an important spot in the Hindu calendar and is celebrated with much enthusiasm in the Indian state of Odisha each year. The festival attracts thousands of devotees to get a glimpse of the chariots carrying murtis (idols) of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra. The Jagannath Temple is one of the four main pilgrimage sites – known as Char Dham – making it a place of high spiritual and religious significance.
The widely celebrated festival has seen diaspora around the globe take part in the festivities with their own Rath Yatras [chariot festivals] over the years. London’s first Rath Yatra took place in 1969. The festival was arranged by eight pioneering devotees and their congregation. The procession started at the Marble arch and proceeded to Trafalgar Square. Shyamasundar Dasa built the first chariot for Lord Jagannath in London. Srila Prabhupada of ISKCON instructed to “make the Deities so beautiful that everyone will be attracted to them”. These deity idols are still worshiped in London today, and once a year they come out of the temple to ride through London to Trafalgar Square.
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The ISKCON Rath Yatra is set to take place on July 30 and will start in Hyde Park. The procession will make its way to Trafalgar Square where it will culminate with a cultural festival and a vegetarian meal for all devotees.
Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple (Mandir) London – affiliated to Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Bhuj, Kutch, India – also recently collaborated with Stanmore Temple (also known as Shri Swaminarayan Temple, Dharma Bhakti Manor) to bring the famous festival to the streets of London. The day began with puja [veneration] and Maha Aarti (devotional singing) at Stanmore Temple, followed by the procession of the Rathas to SKS Swaminarayan Temple in Kenton, where the event culminated with Maha Prasad [meal offering] and dancing to the Maha Mantra (devotional mantra).
As well as being attended by hundreds of devotees, the colourful procession also saw the participation of several councillors and Conservative MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, who took to Twitter to write about his experience of participating in the procession.
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There are several Rath Yatras taking place in London as well as across the UK in the coming days.
