Ratha Yatra means "Chariot Festival" in Sanskrit. This celebration began thousands of years ago in Puri, a coastal city in eastern India (today's Odisha state). Each summer, enormous wooden chariots carrying decorated figures of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balarama, and their sister Subhadra are pulled through the streets. In India, millions of people travel to Puri to take part — it is one of the country's largest public festivals.
Normally these figures are honored inside the temple, but on festival day they are brought outdoors so everyone — not just temple visitors — can see them. The chariots look like moving temples, covered in bright fabrics and flowers. Crowds sing, play drums, and help pull the chariots by rope. The procession re-creates a traditional journey to a nearby temple two kilometers away. The atmosphere is joyful, loud, and open to all ages.
The Festival of Chariots came to America on July 9, 1967, in San Francisco. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada — founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) — wanted to share this public celebration with Western audiences. He first imagined holding it in San Francisco while looking out his window on Frederick Street. Today the festival happens in cities worldwide: Fifth Avenue in New York, Laguna Beach, Golden Gate Park, and many more. Detroit held its first Festival of Chariots in 1985 and now hosts one of the largest celebrations outside India.