Baripada’s Ratha Yatra in Odisha is one of India’s most distinctive chariot festivals. Rooted in a royal legend dating back to the 16th century, it is the only Ratha Yatra where only women are permitted to pull Subhadra’s chariot — a tradition introduced in 1975 that has since become a powerful symbol of devotion and women’s participation in public religious life.
In 1575, when Maharaja Baidyanath Bhanj Deo of Mayurbhanj visited the Jagannatha temple in Puri with his royal entourage, he was denied entry into the temple. Indignant at this insult, the Maharaja decided to camp outside Puri for several days until one night, the deity appeared in his dream. “Go home,” the deity told him, “and build me a temple there; only make sure it is no grander than the one in Puri.” The devout Maharaja returned to Mayurbhanj and built the Shri Haribaldev Jew Temple in Baripada, known as the ‘Dwitiya Srikhetra’ or the second home of Jagannatha, the deity whose name means ‘Lord of the World.’
I first heard this story from Akshita Bhanj Deo, the younger princess of Mayurbhanj, during my visit to the Belgadia Palace in June. I was there as part of a group of journalists, art writers, and curators invited to cover the conclusion of the inaugural Mayurbhanj Residency (more on that later!). As she gave us a tour of the 18th-century Victorian brick-built double-storey palace — the current residence of the Bhanj Deos, the erstwhile rulers of Mayurbhanj — Akshita shared this fascinating chapter of her family history. But what stood out to me was a small detail she mentioned. Near the end of her story about how the second grandest Jagannatha temple in Odisha came to be in Baripada, she said, “It is the only Ratha Yatra in all of India where only women are allowed to draw the chariot of Subhadra!”
The Baripada Ratha Yatra is almost five centuries old and unique in many ways. Unlike Puri, the Ratha Yatra in Baripada is a three-day affair. Although the deities are taken out of the temple for the annual sojourn on ‘Ashadha Sukla Dwitiya’ — the second day of the fortnight of Ashadha — the same day Puri celebrates the festival, the chariots move a day later in Baripada.
The 14-wheeled ‘Taladhwaja’, the chariot of Balabhadra, considered Jagannatha’s brother, is the first to move to the Mausibadi temple on the first day of the festival. The 12-wheeled ‘Devidalana’ or ‘Vijaya’, the chariot of Jagannatha and Balabhadra’s sister Subhadra, is drawn next. Normally, this chariot reaches halfway to the Mausibadi temple and stays near the town Police Station. The next day at 2:00 PM, the pulling of the chariot is resumed, and ‘Devidalana’ reaches the destination. Finally, the ‘Nandighosha’, or Jagannatha’s own massive chariot with 16 wheels, is pulled to the Mausibadi temple. The same rituals are performed on the ‘Bahuda’ day in reverse: beginning with the Nandighosha, followed by the Devidalana, and finally the Taladhwaja. This is how Baripada has been celebrating the Ratha Yatra for centuries.
The women-only tradition associated with Devidalana or Subhadra’s chariot in Baripada is a relatively recent development. It began in 1975, during the first International Women’s Year, when the then-Mayurbhanj District Collector Vivekananda Patnaik initiated it. Patnaik introduced the idea to empower women and to provide a safe, respectful space for women to participate in the festival after a woman was injured while pulling a chariot in the 1950s. The idea became so popular in subsequent years that it has since transformed into a tradition of Baripada’s Ratha Yatra.
This year, the Belgadia Palace is collaborating with Kolkata-based experiential tourism organisers Immersive Trails to offer a curated trip to Baripada to experience this unique Ratha Yatra.
Learn more here.
If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:
Palace Stays, Heritage Villages, & More: A Homegrown Guide To Mindful Travel In Odisha
Rambha Palace Is Where Odisha’s Craft Traditions Meet Lakefront Luxury
Inside Raghurajpur, The Odisha Village Where Everyone Is An Artist