Mumbai, Jan 12: Nearly five lakh devotees participated in the Lord Jagannath rath (chariot) yatra in south Mumbai, the ISKCON Girgaum Chowpatty that orgganised the event said here Saturday.
The yatra - with a replica of the chariot of the Lord Jagannath Temple of Puri in Odisha - started from Shivaji Park and wound its way back after traversing through some of the most congested areas of south-central Mumbai.
Thousands of devotees pulled the chariot as it passed through Gokhale Road, Khed Gully, Shiv Sena Bhavan and other areas where it was welcomed by the locals.
At Shivaji Park, the theme of the decoration was the equally famous Pandharpur Temple of Maharashtra with 30-feet tall replicas of the temple and an idol of Lord Vitthoba.
The Lord Jagannath chariot festival was originally held in Puri for centuries.
However, in 1967, ISKCON founder Acharya Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada organised it in San Francisco, US, to enable people who could not travel to Puri take participate in the festival.
This was the first time the festival was held outside Puri. Later, it spread to all over the world.
In Mumbai and Thane, similar festivals are held at Girgaum Chowpatty and Juhu in Mumbai, Mira Road and Navi Mumbai in Thane district, said ISKCON spokesperson Lucky Kulkarni.
ISKCON head Radhanath Swami Maharaj will deliver spiritual discourses evening evening followed by a 'maha-prasad' for devotees at Shivaji Park.
Sunday morning, keeping in mind sentiments of locals, 500 people will troop down to clean up Shivaji Park and restore it to its normal glory after the festival.
