Fremont Hindu Temple, the first abode of Lord Jagannath in Bay Area, California, USA, hosted the annual Ratha and Bahuda Yatra. The holy festival usually attracts thousands of devotees. This year, however, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ratha Yatra was held in a restricted manner with 20 devotees with the heightened precaution of maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.
For the thousands of devotees who could not join, a live telecast of the Ratha Yatra was organised which gave 7,000 plus devotees the glimpses of the Holy Trinity on their TV, mobile phones and laptop.
Ratha Yatra rituals started by offering pooja to deities, "pahandi" followed by "chhera pahara" starting the preparatory rituals for readying the chariot for pulling. Radhika Saini from Nataraj School of Dance performed traditional Odishi dance in front of the chariot before the chariot was pulled by the devotees with Kirtan and Bhajan and the chants of "Jai Jagannath" led by Kirtan Mellows of Silicon Valley Iskcon temple.