Next: about 5 Jul 2027
Rath Yatra, Puri
At the chariot festival of Puri, Odia women wear Sambalpuri and cotton sarees, and the Khandua cloth belongs to Jagannath himself.
What is worn for Rath Yatra, Puri
Rath Yatra takes Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra out of the Puri temple on three huge wooden chariots, pulled by crowds along the Grand Road to the Gundicha temple. It falls on the second day of the bright half of Ashadha. Odia women attending usually wear cotton or silk sarees of their state, such as Sambalpuri ikat, Bomkai and Khandua. Khandua is a silk ikat cloth with verses from the Gita Govinda woven in, and it is used as the dress of the deity, as well as a saree. The crowd is large, the weather is wet, and light cotton in plain colours is practical.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Ratha Yatra" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bomkai sari: Nayansatya, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sambalpuri sari: Rahul191313, CC BY-SA 4.0, source