Rath Yatra celebrated in England’s Slough

Bhubaneswar: Rath Yatra was celebrated with devotion and spiritual fervour at Upton Court Park, Slough, near London on Saturday. Organised by Shree Jagannatha Society UK (SJSUK), the event attracted over 1,000 devotees, who pulled the chariot, sang ‘bhajans' and participated in ‘kirtans'.‘Chhera Pahanra' was performed by deputy high commissioner to the UK, Sujit Ghosh, and acting chairperson and trustee of Shree Ram Mandir, Southall, Arun Thakur.This year's celebration saw the deities travel from Shree Ram Mandir to Upton Court Park en route to Slough Hindu Mandir, which serves as the Gundicha Temple and where they will reside for eight days, cementing community, cultural and spiritual ties between Greater London and surrounding home counties. "Rath Yatra is not just a celebration, but a movement of faith and unity," said Sahadev Swain, chairperson of SJSUK.At Upton Court Park, the deities were carried in the ceremonial ‘Pahandi' riutal to the chariot. The colourful chariot was hand-constructed, painted and decorated by Jagannath devotees, who worked on it for several days.The chariot was pulled by devotees through the park accompanied by ‘Jai Jagannath' and ‘Hari Bol' chants, ‘bhajans' and ‘kirtans'. The sound of cymbals and conch created a divine ambience.Several dignitaries like Windsor MP Jack Rankin, deputy mayor of Slough, Neel Rana, Slough councillor Subash Mohindra, trustees of Shree Ram Mandir, Jai Sharma and Balmukund Joshi, and chairperson of Slough Hindu Mandir, Vinod Kumar, joined in chariot pulling. UK Bank CEO Loknath Mishra also took part in the festivities, apart from Hindu organisations in Slough. ‘Prasad' was distributed among all devotees. The event featured stalls offering traditional food, crafts and religious items.SJSUK treasurer Bhakta Panda and outreach member Sukant Sahu said that "besides spiritual and cultural events, SJSUK promotes socio-educational events, community-based, health and wellness projects in the UK and India through different activities".