Women dressed in traditional attires chant a mantra while dancing and singing in the Jagannath Rath Yatra, a chariot festival, organised by ISKCON Nepal in New Road, Kathmandu, on Thursday, July 28, 2016. Photo: Skanda Gautam/ THT
Thousands of devotees and general public took part in Jagannath Rath Yatra with religious fervour and enthusiasm in Kathmandu today.
The chariot procession was organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Nepal to mark the golden jubilee of its establishment. Devotees made a beeline in the street as the chariot procession of Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra started from Kamaladi and passed through Ghantaghar, Bhadrakali, New Road, Keshar Mahal, Durbar Marg and Putalisadak before ending at Brikutimandap.
This procession is a replica of the famous Jagannath Rath Yatra held annually in Jagannath Puri, Odisha since 10th-11th century. ISKCON was officially established on July 13, 1966 by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder Acharya, in New York.
Devotees dressed in traditional attires dance and sing while taking part in the Jagannath Rath Yatra, a chariot festival, organised by ISKCON Nepal in New Road, Kathmandu, on Thursday, July 28, 2016. Photo: Skanda Gautam/ THT
ISKCON – also known as the Krishna consciousness movement – has hundreds of temples all around the world and millions of devotees.
According to ISKCON, the main purpose of the Krishna consciousness movement is to enlighten the forgetful living entity and remind him of his original position to be Krishna conscious.
Traffic had come to a grinding halt in major road sections of the capital throughout the day due to the procession.
Source: http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/jagannath-rath-yatra-concludes/