Rathayatra Festival

The Festival of the chariot’ aims at celebrating the cultural diversity of Southampton with the colourful Indian festival Rathayatra.

This is the most extraordinary chariot festival that originates in Jagannatha Puri on the east coast of India and dates back over 2,000 years.

Rathayatra is celebrated by devotees of Lord Krishna all over the world after being introduced to the west in 1967 in San Francisco by ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his first American disciples.Rathayatra is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ‘biggest street festival.

It features a beautifully decorated wooden chariot pulled by hand in a grand procession.

All the way through there is melodious singing, chanting and dancing to rhythmical drums and cymbals.The procession ends with, a festival celebration and delicious vegetarian prasadam feast.