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India Gazette
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- India Gazette
West Bengal: First-ever Rath Yatra at Digha's Jagannath temple to begin soon
Digha (West Bengal) [India], June 27 (ANI): The first-ever Rath Yatra at the Lord Jagannath temple in Digha is set to begin soon on a 1 km route on Friday. ISKCON Kolkata Vice President Radharamn Das said the festival is inspired by the Puri Rath Yatra and added that West Bengal Chief Minister will join the event at 2 pm. Speaking to ANI, Radharamn Das said, 'Digha Jagannath Yatra is inspired by Puri Rath Yatra. Here too, the chariots of the deities have been made similar to those in Puri. In a few moments, the Lord will come to his chariot, and the Rath Yatra will begin. The Chief Minister will come here at 2 pm.' At ISKCON Kolkata, Lord Jagannath, along with his brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Goddess Subhadra, is being ceremoniously taken to their chariots as part of the Rath Yatra celebrations. A sea of devotees gathered outside the Shri Jagannath Temple in Puri as the grand annual Rath Yatra festival began today. People from across the country arrived to witness the grand chariots of the three deities, Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balabhadra, and sister goddess Subhadra, at the Gundicha temple, where the deities reside for a week and then return to Jagannath temple. Speaking to ANI, Pooja Anand, a devotee from Mumbai, shared her emotions while witnessing the yatra for the first time. 'I have come from Mumbai. It is an out-of-this-world experience. I have been a devotee for 20 years, but this is my first time here. It is a divine experience. I want to pull the chariot. This is one day of the year when the Lord comes out of his abode and blesses the 'jagat', the universe. Everyone should come here and seek blessings. The weather here is very pleasant. It rained all night,' she said. (ANI)
Time of India
25-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Conflict casts shadow on Rath celebrations, foreign turnout may be lower than last yr's
1 2 3 Kolkata: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), which has been organising a grand Rath Yatra in Kolkata for 53 years, is expecting fewer foreign attendees at this year's event due to disruptions in air traffic following conflicts between Iran and Israel in West Asia and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine in eastern Europe. Iskcon Kolkata vice-president Radharamn Das said the prevalent geopolitical situation made it extremely challenging for devotees to travel to the region from Europe and America. "We usually get around 200 devotees from abroad. But this year, the numbers could be half of that due to logistical challenges," said Das. Among the foreigners certain to join the procession are several Ukrainians who have been unable to return to their war-ravaged country for the past three years. These Iskcon devotees exited India before their visas expired and went to a third country, from where they reapplied for Indian visas and returned. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata "There will be Russians and Chinese as well, along with devotees from Europe and America. But the numbers will be fewer than expected due to the travel constraints," said Das. In the Russia-Ukraine war that started in Feb 2022, Iskcon devotees and their relatives were casualties. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Lift Tangga mungkin lebih murah Daripada yang Anda kira. Lift Tangga | Cari Iklan Cari Sekarang Undo In Nov 2023, two devotees were killed when a Russian rocket hit their food van in the village of Nechaevo near Oleshek, in eastern Ukraine. A third devotee was rescued from the rubble. Krishna-Tattva Prabhu, director of the Food for All Luhansk mission and president of Iskcon in Alchevsk, and Madana-Gopal Prabhu were killed in the missile strike that hit the Food For Life kitchen and destroyed it. The programme provided over 1,000 prasad meals weekly to civilians in the Donbas region and also carried out charity programmes. "Imagine the hatred the people of the two countries must be nursing against each other. But at Iskcon, Ukrainian and Russian devotees chant, sing, dance, and eat together. That is because they have learnt that there is more to life than material wealth. We also have devotees in Israel, but they will be unable to travel as flights are not operating at present," the Iskcon senior functionary said.
The Hindu
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Lakhs of people expected to attend Rathyatra at Digha's Jagannath Temple, says ISKCON
Lakhs of people are expected to witness the commencement of the Rathyatra festival on June 27 at the Jagannath Temple in Digha, vice president and spokesperson of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Radharamn Das, said on Tuesday (June 24, 2025). West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on April 30 this year inaugurated a Jagannath Temple at Digha, a coastal town in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district. The upcoming festivities, set to be the first Rathyatra at the temple in Digha, have therefore emerged as one of the most highly anticipated spiritual events in the State. 'We are expecting a footfall of over 2 lakhs at Digha on the first day of Rathyatra. Around 50 devotees from other countries like Russia, China and Ukraine are also expected to visit,' Mr Das said. He added that around 30 lakh people have already visited the Jagannath Temple at Digha since its inauguration on April 30. 'This year, the Chief Minister will be present for the inauguration of the Rathyatra Festival at Digha. She will then visit the festivities conducted by ISKCON in Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground on July 3 and perform aarati,' he further said. He added that the Kolkata Rathyatra Festival would be inaugurated this year by Trinamool Congress MP Subrata Bakshi, in the presence of several celebrities of sociocultural renown. 'Kolkata's Rathyatra, second only to Puri's, draws over 2 million devotees each year. Even in Puri, ISKCON plays a large role in attracting crowds throughout the year. This year, we are anticipating around 23 lakh people across the nine days of the festival in Kolkata,' Mr. Das said. The organisation on Monday (June 23, 2025) also organised a farewell to commemorate the replacement of the tyres of Jagannath's chariot, with tyres from India's frontline Sukhoi-30 aircraft. 'For the last 48 years, the tyres of the chariot were those of the Boeing 747. Today we are bidding goodbye. This year's chariot will feature brand new Sukhoi tyres,' the ISKCON spokesperson said. Mr. Das also addressed controversies surrounding the selection of tyres from a fighter jet for the deity's chariot at a time of global conflict, saying that it took the organisation a long period of time to find new tyres, and that 'in the eyes of the Lord, no animosity can prevail even in the time of war.' He also highlighted that the Kolkata Rathyatra Festival by ISKCON this year would feature a larger-sized pandal at the Brigade Parade Grounds, and would be made as a replica of the renowned Jagannath Temple in Odisha's Puri, which draws massive crowds each year. Additionally, a website ( will be set up to help devotees track the movement of the chariot through the city in real time. 'This year in Kolkata, we are also looking forward to several cultural programmes featuring classical dance performances, plays, and kirtan by award-winning performers. We will also present bhog and prasad at ten places in the city. The deity will be given over 108 items in the bhog,' Mr. Das said.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Digha Jagannath temple rolls out prasad for 1.4 crore Bengal families
1 2 Kolkata: Three hundred kilograms of 'khoa,' a dry milk 'kheer' that is a key ingredient in sweets, was offered to Lord Jagannath at the temple in Digha before being dispatched to 23 districts in refrigerated vans on Monday. This was part of the state govt's initiative to distribute the 'mahaprasad' among all residents of the state. "By Tuesday, each district will receive 10kg of khoa. This will be divided so that each block gets an amount. This khoa will be mixed into more khoa at select local sweetshops to make peda that will then be distributed among people as mahaprasad by ration dealers," said Radharamn Das, the vice-president of Iskcon Kolkata, which is managing the temple operations. There are 341 blocks in the state. The packets — each containing a 'peda', a 'gaja', and a photograph of the Jagannath temple — will be handed to 1.4 crore families. The handover of 'mahaprasad' will begin on June 17 and be completed by June 27, the day of Rath Yatra. Around 10am on Monday, 300 kg of 'khoa' reached the Jagannath temple in Digha in a refrigerated van. There, it was received by around 60 'sadhus' chanting 'kirtans.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like I Tried the $0.87 Generic Viagra and Here's What Happened! fridayplans Learn More Undo Thirty local women, dressed in saris with a red border worn during puja, carried the 'khoa' to the temple sanctum sanctorum, where priests offered them as bhog to the deities of Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra. Of the 23 large packets marked with the names of districts, the one for East Midnapore was handed over to the DM for distribution among BDOs. The remaining 22 district packets, along with seven others, were loaded onto the refrigerated van and dispatched to Kolkata around 11.30am. "On the way, the packets will be distributed to the districts the van passes through: Hooghly and Howrah," said Das, reiterating that the initiative was taken byat the behest of the chief minister. Biswambhar Basu, general secretary of the All India Fair Price Shop Dealers' Federation, said Duare Ration would be used for prasad delivery from Monday to Friday. It will be available at ration shops during the weekend.
Mint
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Mint
Lord Jagannath's chariot to roll on Sukhoi jet tires on Kolkata streets: Report
This year, Lord Jagannath's chariot will roll on Sukhoi fighter jet tires on the streets of Kolkata, reported NDTV. The Rath Yatra, to be held on June 27, will be organised by ISCKON Kolkata. The organizer arrived at a decision to run the massive chariot on Sukhoi tires after a search for around 20 years. 'The old tires, sourced from a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, have been replaced by tires used on Sukhoi fighter planes and manufactured by MRF,' said the NDTV report. But it was a challenge for the organizer to arrange the tires as they had to assess the charriot's weight they could bear. "Finding a weighing scale for a massive chariot was a huge task. We eventually managed to weigh it and it came to about nine tonnes. Factoring in the weight of devotees on the chariot during the Yatra, we realised that the tires would need to support a weight of about 16 tonnes," Radharamn Das, vice president and spokesperson for ISCKON Kolkata, told NDTV. "We first spoke to Dunlop, but they had stopped manufacturing these tires. After extensive research, we found Sukhoi tires to be the best match. We first tried to contact MRF in 2018, but could not get through. Eventually, they got back six years later. In December 2024, they sent a team, we worked out a price and they delivered the tires a month back," Das added. He further said that MRF officials were surprised when ISKCON told them about the requirement. "We were told that the only other client for these tires is the Indian Air Force." The four tires supplied by MRF came at a cost of ₹ 1.80 lakh. After the tires were fitted to the chariot, a 24-km long dry run was performed for a trial. The Rath Yatra in Kolkata was started in 1972 with a small chariot.
