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BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, June 18, 2004: At least half a million people thronged Orissa’s temple city of Puri to witness the annual journey of three mammoth chariots of Hindu deities that begins Saturday. The chariots, made of 1,130 big wooden logs, were positioned facing south Friday on the main street of the city known as Great Grant Road. The chariots were made by 78 carpenters in more than a month for the much-awaited annual journey of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. Their journey begins at the 12th-century Jagannath temple. They come out of the main temple and go to another shrine called Gundicha, located one and a half kilometers away, in the chariots in a procession known as rath yatra, or chariot festival. After nine days, the procession is reversed and the three deities are taken back to their primary residence in similar style.



Devotees pull the chariots with the help of strong ropes. Every year the main ritual is held on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha (June-July). The chariots are named as Jagannath’s Nandighosh, Balabhadra’s Taladhwaja and Subhadra’s Padmadhwaja. They are respectively 45 feet, 44 feet and 43 feet in height and have 16, 14 and 12 wheels. Each chariot is covered with colorful clothes. Nandighosh is covered by red and yellow fabric, Taladhwaja by red and green and Padmadhwaja by black and red. The clothes used to cover the chariots total 1,131 meters.

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