Jagannath Ratha yatra is a very big famous festival worldwide. This is the festival of chariots, is celebrated originally in Jagannathan Puri (Odisha) from time immemorial. In Puri lord Jagannathan is worshipped with his elder brother Baldev and his sister Subhadra. Their lordship come out on the road and rides on their chariots to bless the citizens. Thousands of people pull the roop of the Ratha and take from Srimandira to Gundicha temple. It’s a similar concept of Krishna Balram’s returning from Kurukshetra to Vrindavan on Ratha which was pulled by Vraja Gopis.

Prabhupada said, “if you participate in these chariot festivals and see the deities riding on these chariots, you will go back home, back to godhead at the end of this life.”

Prabhupad starts Ratha Yatra in West.

When Srila Prabhupad was six years old, Gaur Mohan Dey (his father) arranged for a small Ratha and young Abhay (later known as Prabhupad) would perform Ratha yatra in his neighbour and distribution prasadam to all the children, who taking part in the festival.

Srila Prabhupada (who introduced the life of Krishna consciousness in the western world) had a great ambition to celebrate this festival gorgeously in every city of the world and he inspired and guided his disciples to make this annual festival well known in every part of the world. The first-ever Ratha-Yatra in the western world was organized in san Francisco on July 9, 1967. Thereafter, this festival became popular in western world and spread to many other countries.