Crowds and the chariot at the festival of Rathayatra celebrated in Birmingham United Kingdom
The festival of Rathayatra celebrated in Birmingham United Kingdom Said to be the oldest continuously celebrated festival in the world Rathayatra was first celebrated several millennia ago in the town of Jagannath Puri in the Bay of Bengal Today over two thousand descendants of those first followers still serve in the large temple there and the Rathayatra procession can take several days to complete The festival was first celebrated in the West in San Francisco in 1967 Rath Yatra consists of two words rath meaning a chariot and yatra which means a pilgrimage a journey or a procession Accordingly rath yatra describes a procession of chariots generally drawn by horses Vedic scripture speaks of Rath in various contexts and in the epic wars of the Mahabarath Rathas formed a major means of movement of warriors There were many famous Rath Yatras in Hindu legend The English word Juggernaut also originates from the Jaganath Rath Yatra
Size: 5032px × 3354px
Location: Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
Photo credit: © Pete Marshall People and Places / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: birmingham, carnival, celebration, chariots, dancing, festival, generic, happy, hare, hindu, juggernaut, krihsna, multi-cultural, parade, rath, rathayatra, religious, uk, yatra
