Digha rub-off effect: Attendance soars at Kolkata Rath, riding high on state's festive momentum
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Historically, lakhs have participated in the Rath and Ulta Rath, as well as during the nine days when Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra reside at the makeshift Gundicha temple at the Maidan. Last year, attendance surged to approximately 20 lakh, with expectations to reach 23 lakh this year, according to Radharamn Das, Iskcon Kolkata vice-president.
"While we have witnessed an incremental rise of 10% in attendance during the Rath Yatra in 2024, we estimate the count to go up by 15% this year given the turnout we have witnessed on the day of the Rath as well as the weekend," Das said.
Initial concerns arose about the event's scale due to Iskcon functionaries and some devotees focusing on the inaugural Rath Yatra at Digha this year. However, these fears were dispelled when approximately 2 lakh people attended the Rath Yatra in Kolkata on Friday. The Maidan saw a footfall of 5 lakh on Saturday and Sunday, with an additional 8.5 lakh between Monday and Thursday, taking the total to 15.5 lakh over seven days.
The crowd count would have been even higher but for the heavy showers on multiple days of the week, said Das.
Das said the spiritual wave of Rath Yatra sweeping across Bengal had boosted not just the crowd count but also the energy levels. "The unprecedented enthusiasm is partly attributed to the massive attention generated by the state's Rath Yatra celebrations in Digha, where the CM personally took charge of arrangements, setting the tone for a state-wide festive mood," he said.
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The upward trend follows the post-pandemic revival of public celebrations. In 2020, the Rath Yatra was symbolically celebrated inside Iskcon's Albert Road temple with 18-inch chariots. In 2021, the deities were taken to the 22, Gurusaday Road premises on a truck, with limited participation. Since 2022, with public participation resuming, the numbers have steadily climbed.
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