Jagannath Puri and the Chariot Festival

On India's eastern coast in Odisha stands Puri, the home of Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe. Here Shree Krishna is worshipped in a rare wooden form alongside his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, their wide painted eyes watching over everyone.

Every year on Ashadh Sud 2, the three deities leave their temple for the Rath Yatra, riding towering wooden chariots pulled by lakhs of devotees. The chariots are built new each year, and pulling their ropes is considered a great blessing. The spectacle is so mighty that it gave the English language the word "juggernaut".

Gujarat shares this joy. Ahmedabad's Rath Yatra, held since 1878, is counted the third largest in India after Puri and Kolkata, setting out from the Jagannath temple in Jamalpur and winding through the old city with elephants, akhadas and bhajan mandalis.

The temple kitchen at Puri is among the largest in the world. Its mahaprasad is cooked in earthen pots stacked seven high over a single wood fire, and it is shared by all, with no distinction of rank or caste.

Puri is also one of the four dhams, which makes a darshan of Jagannath a milestone in a devotee's life. Jai Jagannath!