Every year as the Indian summer waxes and wanes, thousands of devotes start their religious journey from all over the country from small villages, mid sized towns and the urban centers to the small town of Puri, Orissa.
Puri is located about an hour and a half away from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, on the East Coast of India, everyone wants to be a part of this mammoth parade!
Lord Jagannath, with his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, goes on an annual vacation, traveling on grand chariots, from their temple in Puri, to their garden palace in the countryside. It is difficult to fathom the magnitude of the festival as millions congregate to catch a glimpse of the deities as they come out for their yearly ride!
Puri Rath Yatra attracts more than one million pilgrims every year and to photograph this major Hindu festival, is thrilling.
The colorful chariots are parked out in the open and the crowds surge around them touching them for blessings and bowing their heads reverently.
Around noon a team of priests march out from the temple carrying the enormous deities to make them sit in the chariots. The Deities are welcomed by the devotees as they dance and sing to the loud hypnotic beats of cymbals being beaten and the decorated and colorful chariots begin their journey among the surging crowds.
I personally feel that Puri Rath Yatra is very well organized and the devotees are all very considerate towards each other. However, you can experience some pushing and jostling which is natural for that large number of people. There are free water, snacks and glucose stalls for the crowds so they can be out in the sun for the entire day.
The festival begins early in the morning with the invoking ceremony in the morning and the chariot pulling on the roads of Puri in afternoon is the most exciting part of the festival.
This year, the Puri Rath Yatra 2013 will be held on July 10.
Carry plenty of water/ Gatorade/ Glucose – its very humid during the festival and you need to keep hydrated.
Wear light cotton pants and a full-sleeved shirt, adequate sun block and use a hat.
A handy water proof bag will be useful to save your gear from getting wet. As this is also the onset of monsoon in India, expect it to start raining any time.
Mingle with the crowd for close-up shots of the raths.
To get a larger picture and long shots, climb up an adjacent high building overlooking the crowds.
Try and arrive two days before the main festival day to get a feel of the place and crowd which also offers exciting photography opportunities.