Third Jagannath Rath Yatra to roll through Gurugram on July 16
The third Shri Jagannath Rath Yatra at Sai Ka Aangan in Gurugram will be held on Thursday, July 16, 2026, beginning at 3 pm, under the guidance of Dr Chandra Bhanu Satpathy, a spiritual thinker, humanitarian, and distinguished exponent of Jagannath culture.
The celebrations are expected to draw thousands of devotees from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The event is organised by the CB Satpathy Cultural Foundation and the management of Sai Ka Aangan. The celebrations will begin with the sacred Pahandi Bije procession of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, and Shri Sudarshan at 3 pm.
This will be followed by the traditional Chhera Pahara ceremony, which symbolises humility, equality, and selfless service, to be performed by Dr Satpathy before the ceremonial pulling of the divine chariot.
The festival will feature devotional music, traditional cultural performances showcasing the heritage of Odisha, and the distribution of prasad prepared by traditional Odia cooks from Puri.
The Rath Yatra at Sai Ka Aangan was introduced in 2024 and is in its third edition this year. Within two years, it has emerged as one of the most anticipated annual spiritual celebrations in the Gurugram region, bringing together devotees who cut across cultural, linguistic, and social boundaries.
Dr Satpathy’s association with the Jagannath Rath Yatra tradition extends over more than three decades of spiritual and cultural work. He initiated the Shri Jagannath Rath Yatra at the Power Grid Temple in Gurugram in 2009, making him one of the early organisers to establish this tradition in the Delhi-NCR region.
He subsequently took the tradition to the United States, introducing Rath Yatras in Dallas and Nashville in 2011 and in Houston in 2012, expanding the cultural and spiritual reach of the Jagannath tradition to the Indian diaspora in North America.
Alongside this work, Dr Satpathy has for more than three decades been associated with the Sai movement and has contributed to spiritual outreach, humanitarian activities, and the promotion of Jagannath culture both in India and internationally. He is also an author with a body of work focused on spiritual thinking and philosophy.
In the weeks leading up to the July 16 celebration, a series of awareness and outreach programmes has been conducted to educate devotees and the public about the spiritual significance of Lord Jagannath, the sacred traditions of the Rath Yatra, and the broader cultural heritage of Odisha.