Several hundred people are expected to gather in Kelownasa国际传媒檚 City Park on June 23 to celebrate Ratha Yatra. 

The Jagannath Rath Yatra is a nine-day festival celebrated in Odisha, Jharkhand, and other parts of Eastern India. 

The event is a Hindu festival which seeks blessings from Lord Jagannath, the Lord Vishnu avatar. While the festival is famous in other countries such as Nepal and Singapore, this will be the first time the event is being officially held in Kelowna. 

According to the government of Odisha, the words Ratha Yatra include two words of Sanskrit language. The word Ratha means cart or chariot, and the word Yatra means travel or journey. In English, it is known as the car festival of Odisha and Juggernaut.

In Kelowna, Councillor Mohini Singh will be participating in the event and said during the festival of Ratha Yatra Puri, devotees worship Lord Jagannath at the Jagannath Temple in Puri during the Asadha month.

sa国际传媒淭hey bring out the Yatra in the Bada Danda which is the main street located in Puri. They take the Yatra to Shri Gundicha Temple which allows everyone to view and take blessings from Lord Jagannath,sa国际传媒� she explained. 

The free event will start at 10 a.m. and will have live music, cultural dancing, vegetarian food and a kid's play area as well as a cow petting zoo. 

A parade will take place from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Last year Ratha Yatra was celebrated in Ashcroft, and hundreds of people showed up to participate in the parade. 

This yearsa国际传媒檚 event is organized by Kelowna and Summerlandsa国际传媒檚 Hindu Cultural Societies.