As the Jagannath Rath Yatra entered its second day on Thursday, devotees from across the world shared their spiritual experiences of witnessing Lord Jagannath in Puri, describing the annual festival as a unique occasion when people of all nationalities can receive the deity’s blessings.
A devotee from England said the Rath Yatra offered an experience unlike anything he had witnessed before and highlighted that the festival provides to all the devotees an opportunity to have Lord Jagannath’s darshan.
“It’s very ecstatic. I come from England originally, and you never see anything like this in England. It’s another world – just incredible. People have so much devotion for Lord Jagannath; it’s amazing to see,” he told ANI.
A devotee from Russia described the experience as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I am from Russia. I feel very fortunate. This is like a lifetime opportunity. Rath Yatra is held every year, and we can come and take the darshan of Lord Jagannath,” the devotee said.
Echoing similar sentiments, a devotee from Bolivia in South America said the Rath Yatra enables devotees from outside India to seek the Lord’s blessings.
“Lord Jagannath is Patitapabana. He comes out to give darshan to everyone,” the devotee said.
Indian devotees also expressed their joy at participating in the grand festival. One devotee said his entire family had travelled from Bhubaneswar to Puri to witness the Rath Yatra.
“Everyone gets the opportunity to have darshan. This time, we had a wonderful darshan. We left Bhubaneswar at 4 am and after reaching here, we had a very good darshan. We came with our entire family and felt immense happiness,” he said.
Explaining the spiritual significance of the annual festival, a priest said Lord Jagannath is unique because He comes out of the temple once every year to bless devotees.
“Lord Jagannath is the only deity in the world who comes out once every year to meet His devotees. This is His divine leela. During Kaliyuga, He manifests Himself in different forms and blesses the people of Odisha and devotees from across the world, praying for their welfare, prosperity and happiness,” the priest said.
Meanwhile, day one of the 2026 Puri Rath Yatra got over smoothly despite continuous rain and adverse weather conditions. According to the Odisha Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), nearly eight to nine lakh devotees from Odisha, other parts of India and abroad participated in the world-famous chariot festival of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Chakra Raj Sudarshan.
The state government said all rituals associated with the festival, including the ceremonial pulling of the chariots, were completed according to schedule. Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peeth also visited the chariots and offered prayers to the deities.
The Odisha government had made extensive arrangements in advance, with coordinated efforts by the Police, Health Department, Fire Services, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Transport Department, Municipal Administration, Public Health Engineering, Energy Department and other agencies.
According to the CMO, round-the-clock monitoring, deployment of security personnel, CCTV surveillance, public announcement systems, traffic management, sanitation, drinking water facilities and emergency medical services were put in place to ensure the safety and convenience of devotees throughout the festival.
(With inputs from ANI)
