Puri Ratha Yatra 2026

What this countdown tracks

Puri Ratha Yatra 2026 — the annual chariot procession of Lord Jagannath from his shrine in Puri to the nearby Gundicha Temple — falling on Thursday, July 16, 2026. One of the largest religious processions on Earth, drawing more than a million pilgrims to the seaside town of Puri, Odisha.

About this festival

The Puri Ratha Yatra is the world's oldest continuously held chariot festival, recorded in Sanskrit and Pali sources from the 12th century onward and likely older. It is held on the second tithi of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of the lunisolar month of Ashadha. The festival's name means "chariot journey" — the deities Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra, and his sister Subhadra leave their main shrine, the 12th-century Jagannath Temple at Puri, to spend nine days at the Gundicha Temple, said to be the home of their aunt.

Each deity has his or her own chariot. Jagannath rides Nandighosha, a 45-foot-high, 16-wheel chariot painted yellow and red. Balabhadra rides Taladhwaja, slightly smaller and decorated in green and red. Subhadra rides Darpadalana, the smallest of the three. The chariots are rebuilt from scratch every year using sacred timber from specifically designated forests; about 100 carpenters work for two months on the construction.

The chariots are pulled by hundreds of devotees with thick ropes; the pulling is itself an act of merit, and even brief contact with the rope is considered spiritually beneficial. The procession covers the 3-km route from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple in roughly six to eight hours, with frequent stops, ritual offerings, and the sheer crush of crowds slowing progress to a crawl.

How it's observed

The festival begins with the Snana Yatra (the bathing ceremony) in early June, followed by 14 days of "anasara" during which the deities are kept in private (the Anavasara) — believed to be a period of recuperation from a fever caught after the bath. The Ratha Yatra proper begins on the appointed day with the Pahandi — the slow processional descent of the deities from the temple to the chariots, accompanied by gongs, conches, and chanting. The Chera Pahanra ritual follows: the Gajapati king of Puri (the descendant of the medieval royal house) sweeps the chariots with a golden broom, symbolising the equality of all before Jagannath.

The chariots are pulled westward along Bada Danda (the Grand Road) toward the Gundicha Temple. The deities remain there for nine days; on the ninth day they begin the return journey (Bahuda Yatra), and after a brief stop at Mausi Maa Temple where they are offered Poda Pitha (a traditional Odia rice cake), they return to the main temple in the Niladri Bijaya ceremony.

Ratha Yatra is observed at Jagannath temples across India and the world — Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Vrindavan, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and major ISKCON centres in London (where the procession runs from Hyde Park down to Trafalgar Square), New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Auckland, and many other diaspora cities. The Ahmedabad Ratha Yatra has run since 1878 and is the second-largest in India.

Past observances

• July 7, 2024 — Ratha Yatra 2024
• June 20, 2023 — Ratha Yatra 2023
• July 1, 2022 — Ratha Yatra 2022
• July 12, 2021 — Ratha Yatra 2021 (no public participation due to COVID)
• June 23, 2020 — Ratha Yatra 2020 (Supreme Court permitted only essential ritual personnel)
• July 4, 2019 — Ratha Yatra 2019

How to observe

The Shri Jagannath Temple Administration in Puri publishes the full festival schedule. Doordarshan Odisha, OTV, and ETV Odia broadcast the festival live for an entire day. ISKCON's London Ratha Yatra (typically the Sunday closest to the Puri date) is a major event with up to 50,000 attendees. Major Indian newspapers (Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Times of India, Telegraph) cover the festival in detail.

Related countdowns

Ratha Yatra 2026 sits in the broader Hindu calendar alongside Raksha Bandhan 2026, Onam 2026, Hanuman Jayanti 2026 and the autumn festival arc culminating in Diwali 2026.

FAQ

When is Puri Ratha Yatra 2026? Thursday, July 16, 2026. How big are the chariots? Nandighosha (Lord Jagannath's chariot) is 45 ft high with 16 wheels; the three together carry more than 4,000 people in pulling teams. Where is it held? The principal event is in Puri, Odisha; major Ratha Yatras are also held in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, London, New York, and other cities with ISKCON or traditional Jagannath temples. Can foreigners enter the Jagannath Temple at Puri? No — the main temple at Puri remains closed to non-Hindus, but the chariot procession on Bada Danda is open to all.