700,000 will head to Puri for chariot pull
The beach city of Puri in the east Indian state of Orissa is gearing up for the spectacularly colourful Ratha Yatra ‘Festival of Chariots’, which takes place later this month.
On June 21, more than 700,000 people are expected to descend on Puri to pull the chariots bearing the figures of Lord Jagannatha, Lady Subhadra and Lord Balarama, the Times of India reports.
In order to further promote the area, the government is set to unveil a new logo and slogan for the city, which is rumoured to read “Green Puri, Clean Puri”.
This campaign has impressed local businesses that are keen to see more visitors coming to the city.
“Now we are hopeful that more tourists would come to Puri,” explained Debasis Kumar, the vice-president of the Hotel Association of Puri.
Such is the significance of the festival that the event has gone global, with versions of Ratha Yatra also taking place in major cities across the world, including London.
Written by Alex Cochrane
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