A different chariot for each deity
Three fresh chariots are built each year — one for Jagannath, one for Balabhadra and one for Subhadra.
Nandighosa
Jagannath's chariot — about 45 feet tall, with 16 wheels and red-and-yellow cloth.
Taladhwaja
Balabhadra's chariot — about 44 feet tall, with 14 wheels and red-and-green cloth.
Darpadalana
Subhadra's chariot — about 43 feet tall, with 12 wheels and red-and-black cloth.
Months of hand-craftsmanship, without a single nail
Work begins around Akshaya Tritiya at the Ratha Khala. Hereditary craftspeople build the chariots using traditional designs passed down through generations.
Sacred wood is shaped and joined without nails or metal fasteners. Piece by piece, the plain structures become the colourful chariots pilgrims wait to see.
Each chariot is built from several hundred individually shaped pieces of wood, and the finished structures are wrapped in brightly coloured cloth, adorned with carved wooden horses and a charioteer figure, and finally topped with a canopy in the deity's associated colours — a transformation that visitors can watch unfold, piece by piece, in the weeks before the festival.
From the Lion Gate to the Grand Road
Rath Yatra begins with Pahandi, as the deities are carried from the sanctum to their chariots. The Gajapati performs Chhera Pahanra, sweeping the platforms in humility before Lord Jagannath.
Then the ropes are pulled. The chariots travel the Grand Road to the Gundicha Temple, where the deities stay for seven days before the Bahuda Yatra return.
For pilgrims, this is the heart of Rath Yatra: a moment when the Lord comes out to meet the people. The journey ends with the return to the main temple and the splendour of Suna Besha.
The festival does not end with the outward journey. After seven days at the Gundicha Temple, the deities are dressed in an especially elaborate form known as Suna Besha, adorned with gold ornaments, before the Bahuda Yatra carries them back along the same road to the main temple — bringing Puri's best-known festival full circle for another year.