Leicester celebrates Rathyatra

Tuesday 18th July 2017 19:44 EDT
 

Hundreds of festival-goers have joined a procession in which a 40ft (12.1m) chariot was pulled through Leicester city centre.

The Hare Krishna Festival of Chariots began in Granby Street with a welcome ceremony and ended at Cossington Park, in Belgrave, on Sunday afternoon.

Leicester hosts one of the largest celebrations of its type in Europe, organisers said.

The chariot carried deities of the Lord Jagannatha and his sister Subhadra.

The vibrant procession was accompanied with music, singing and dancing as it made its way through the city.

Pradyumna Das, the president of the the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), said Rathayatra, as it is also known, was "the second largest such festival in Europe."

The 5,000-year-old event was first brought to the West by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder of ISKCON, in 1967.

At Cossington Park, revellers were entertained with dance, live music, drama and exhibitions.


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