Festival
Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā
The chariot festival
Dates follow the Māyāpur (India) reckoning, the base of most published Vaiṣṇava calendars. The tradition sets each day by the tithi present at local sunrise, so your own date may fall a day earlier or later — see the calendar for your city.
At Purī, the deities of Jagannātha, Baladeva and Subhadrā are drawn on tall wooden chariots from the main temple to the Guṇḍicā temple. Caitanya Mahāprabhu spent his years at Purī and took part in this festival; the reading of it is the return journey — Kṛṣṇa, long absent in Dvārakā, moving back toward and the people who never stopped waiting for him. The mood of the day is reunion shadowed by the length of the separation.
On the chart
Sources
- Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13–14Chart / explanatory tradition
A study reference, not a devotional instruction. Observance varies by community and is not detailed here.