As per Hindu mythology, the Lord and his siblings embark on a nine-day annual sojourn to their birthplace, the Gundicha Temple, where they reside for a week, and then return to the Jagannath Temple. The Ratha Yatra takes place on the second day of the Odia month of Ashadha Shukla Tithi (bright fortnight) every year to commemorate the journey of Lord Jagannath and his two siblings from their abode, the 12th-century Jagannath Temple, to the Gundicha Temple, believed to be their aunt’s home.

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As lakhs of devotees throng in Puri, authorities have deployed around 10,000 security personnel, including eight companies of the Central Armed Police Forces, alongside the pilgrim town.

The three chariots – the Taladhwaja Rath for Lord Balabhadra, the Darpadalan Rath for Goddess Subhadra, and the Nandighosa Rath for Lord Jagannath-are made every year from woods of locally available trees for the event. The chariots will have their distinct colors, heights, diameters, wooden horses, guardian deities and even charioteers.

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Around 200 carpenters, laborers, woodcarvers, artists, and painters work for nearly two months to shape the chariots, and the workers view their work as hereditary service. They learn to shape the chariots from their experienced family elders using traditional methods and techniques.

Notably, similar celebrations are being held at the newly inaugurated Lord Jagannath temple in West Bengal’s Digha, which is witnessing its first-ever Ratha Yatra, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expected to be present at the Yatra.

The West Bengal government had triggered a row after it inaugurated the Jagannath Temple in the coastal town and named it ‘Jagannath Dham’. The state government’s initiative to distribute “prasads” from the newly built Digha Jagannath temple has sparked a row with the principal opposition BJP.

The BJP has accused the TMC and its chief of politicizing the Ratha Yatra festival to woo the Hindu community in the run-up to the state Assembly elections slated for early 2026.