The world-famous chariot festival or Rath Yatra is a yearly event dedicated to Lord Krishna (Lord Jagannath). This year, the festival will begin from July 4 and will end on July 15. The festival falls on the second day of Shukla Paksha as per the conventional Oriya Calendar. The grand annual event is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra. The famous event is one of the most important festivals of the Eastern state of India-Odisha. During the 15-day long festival, millions of devotees throng the annual chariot procession just to get one glimpse of the Lord. Watch Live Telecast of Chariot Festival From Odisha's Puri.

The Ratha-yatra is derived two Sanskrit words, ‘Ratha’ which means chariot or carriage, and ‘Yatra’ which means journey or pilgrimage. The Rath Yatra is particularly the Odia festival which involves a public procession with a chariot with deities Jagannath (Vishnu avatar), Balabhadra (his brother), Subhadra (his sister) and Sudarshana Chakra (his weapon) on a ratha, a wooden deula-shaped chariot.

Watch Video: All You Need to Know About the Puri Rath Yatra 2019

In Odisha, the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra takes place every year and it's a 15-day long festival. The Ratha Yatra is also referred to as Rathayatra, Rathajatra. The term particularly refers to the annual Rathayatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states.

Rath Yatra 2019 Date

The grand Rath Yatra dedicated to Lord Jagannath will begin from July 4 this year. The Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra takes place every year and it's a 15-day long festival. About 18 days before the Rath Yatra festival starts, the three idols are given a ceremonial bath with 108 pitchers of water. This is known as Snana Yatra.

Rath Yatra 2019 Timing

The day for the grand festival -Ratha Yatra is decided based on Hindu Lunar calendar and it is fixed on Dwitiya Tithi during Shukla Paksha of Ashada month. Currently it falls in month of June or July in Gregorian calendar.

According to Drikpanchang, the Dwitiya Tithi will begin at 22:04 on July 3, 2019 and it will end at 19:09 on July 4, 2019.

Rath Yatra 2019 Route

The Rath Yatra marks the journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balbhadra and Goddess Subadhra from the Jagannath Temple in Puri to their aunt's place, Gundicha temple. The 142nd Rath Yatra will start from the 400-year-old temple in Jamalpur and will pass through Khamasa, Raipur, Kalupur, Dariapur,  Prem Darwaza, Delhi Chakla, and Shahpur.

The Yatra is held pilgrim town of Odisha with fanfare, religious fervour, enthusiasm. On a normal day, the time taken to reach the Gundicha Temple from the Jagannath Temple is around 37-40 mins.

The festival marks Jagannath’s annual visit to his birthplace, Gundicha Temple, and aunt's home along with his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The mega event is marked by building of massive chariots and huge fanfare. These idols are placed in decorative chariots and are accompanied by chants.

Before the Yatra commences, the idols are bathed with 109 buckets of water, which is called as Snana Pornima and are then placed in isolation till the day of procession. The prime attractions of the Rath Yatra of Jagannath is the elaborate Chariots. The preparation of the chariots starts on the day of Akshay Tritiya, which was on May 7 this year.

The huge procession in Puri marks the annual holidays of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The Rath Yatra is also known as the Shri Gundicha Yatra. While the deities travel on chariots driven by many people, devotees pay their obeisance and seek the blessings of the Lord.

Taking into consideration the huge inflow of devotees to Puri during the Rath Yatra, the Khurda Road Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to run 194 special trains from July 4 to July 13. A special app for the Rath Yatra - ECoR YATRA, will also be launched which will give information regarding the special trains and the various logistic facilities provided by the Railways.

Security will be heightened and a large contingent of Railway Protection Force (RPF) comprising personnel, sniffer dogs, Government Railway Police (GRP) officers and jawans will be mobilised for round the clock deployment during the entire period of the Rath Yatra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2019 01:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).