LONDON RATHAYATRA GETTING READY FOR 2021 By Titiksu dasa, London Rathayatra Coordinator Nearly all of the 200 Rathayatra’s around the world including London have been unfortunately cancelled due to the Coronavirus. This is the first time there has not been a London Rathayatra since it was started in 1969.
maintenance. Restoring worn paintwork, replacing cracked or broken timbers and making new canopies. We built the current chariots of Lord Jagannatha and Lord Baladeva in 2004. I was fortunate enough to have been invited to help build what is now Lady Subhadra’s chariot in 1982. This was used for all three Deities until we got permission for two more in 2004.
The London chariots are not only used in London but are used throughout the summer at Rathayatra’s in Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Dublin, Leicester, and also abroad in Budapest and Paris. All these Rathayatra’s have been cancelled this year. As you can imagine, the chariots get a lot of wear. Myself and a small team of devotees are taking advantage of this downtime to do much-needed Lord Jagannatha’s chariot has now done ten Rathayatra’s nearly every year since 2004. That’s almost 160 in total! As well as building chariots for Lord Jagannatha and Lord Baladeva in 2004,
24 London Rathayatra
