Jagannath Rath Yatra 2025: Odisha locals celebrate with tradition and culture, as the state transforms for the festival

Mumbai-based Stuti Naik, who hails from Bhubaneswar, has fond memories of the Jagannath Rath Yatra, which takes place annually during this time of the year. She shares, "As Puri is an hour and half drive from Bhubaneswar, we would drive at night to see the chariot. This is also the time where there is less crowd, and you can get the best darshan." 

This year, the yatra is happening from June 27 to July 5. During the day, the whole city transforms into a totally different atmosphere, one that local devotees see annually but 26-year-old Naik still finds it mesmerising, even though she is away from home. "In the morning you'll see the whole area decked up with colourful decorations with Odissi dancers gracing the bada danda (the road on from Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple, the route on which the chariots are pulled year after year, and the pahandi (ceremonial procession where the lord steps out of the temple and mounts the chariot) in one rhythm," she further explains. 

Celebrations beyond Puri
It is not only Puri but even Bhubaneswar transforms during this time. Naik, who is a city-based entrepreneur says growing up she would see small chariots roaming around the city from different temples. "As it was not possible for us to visit Puri every year during the festival, we would tune into the live telecast of the Rath Yatra in news channels where the presenter would often explain rituals and tell stories related to the festival," she fondly reminisces. 

Elsewhere in Odisha's Sambalpur, Surama Manjiri Naik, a retired schoolteacher, says people gather at the local Jagannath temple clad in new clothes to mark the beginning of the 10-day festival with offerings like Tulsi garlands, which is the Lords's favourite, along with sprouts and sweets like khoya peda. 

The preparation for this starts days before as people buy new clothes to wear for the festival but not without indulging in sweetmeat, which the Sambalpur native says is an unspoken tradition of the festival. She adds, "Another tradition that is usually followed is where infants or new born babies under the age of one year are taken to the chariot to seek the blessing of the Lord." The devotion begins at the start of the day with people visiting the temple to seek blessings followed by kirtan and a parikrama where the lord circles the chariot or the rath seven times and then mounts it for a procession all around the city. 

Food is an integral part of every Indian festival, and it is no different for the Jagannath Rath Yatra, the 60-year-old says, especially with sweet dishes like kheeri, kanika, kakra pitha, rasa bara, manda pitha among others. 

Growing up around this, Divyasha Panda, her daughter, who has recently moved back home in time for the festivities says one of her favourite memories of Rath Yatra was visiting her ancestral village Patnagarh, which is in west Odisha. "I used to build small rathas or chariots with my cousins and pull it all around the locality. I remember all of us begging the elders to help us in making the small chariots from wood which we would decorate with clothes and flowers to replicate the big ones," she adds. 

It is quite similar in her hometown of Sambalpur where huge crowds gather all around the local Jagannath temple as they pull the chariot all around the city. "There would be these small stalls serving khichdi and kanika (sweet yellow rice) with tomato chutney as well, followed by cups of kheer," the 22-year-old concludes.