Tens of thousands of devotees congregated in India’s eastern temple town of Puri on Sunday for the annual ‘Rath Yatra’ chariot festival.
The festival commemorates the journey of Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balabhadra and his sister Lady Subhadra travelling in specially made chariots from the Jagannath temple to the Gundicha temple three kilometres away.
The festival sees a procession of three giant chariots pulled by a rope through major city roads.
Devotees offered prayers, danced and played instruments and cracked coconuts as part of the celebration. Rainy weather brought some welcome relief to the heat.
The festival ends on July 3.