200 free Odia meals, a mayor’s visit: how London celebrated Rath Yatra

A restaurant in the London Borough of Bexley became the site of an unusual Rath Yatra celebration on Thursday, after three Odisha-born entrepreneurs based in the city organised a free meal for devotees and homeless residents. More than 200 people were served over the course of the evening.

The spread was traditional through and through: ‘arna, kanika, mitha dali, saga muga, besara, pachedi’ and ‘khiri’, cooked by Subhakanta Das and Sasmita Pattnaik. Organiser Arun Kar said the point of the gesture was to bring the spirit of Puri’s chariot festival to people who could not make the journey to Odisha.

‘Not everyone can travel to Odisha and pull the chariots in Puri. But every one of us can serve humanity. Feeding people with love, without discrimination, is one of the greatest forms of devotion,’ Kar said.

The restaurant was decorated with idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, and the evening included cultural performances arranged by fellow entrepreneur Partha Panda — an Odissi piece from Soniya Patnaik, followed by semi-classical dances set to Jagannath bhajans by Sabita Pradhan and Upasana Padhi.

Among the attendees was IT consultant Vijay Meher, who said the evening felt like a small piece of Puri transplanted to London. ‘Seeing Lord Jagannath and Odissi performances, besides sharing traditional Odia food with others, made me feel proud of my culture,’ he said.

The Mayor of Bexley, Lisa Moore, attended with her consort Justin Moore, alongside cabinet members Brian Bishop and Rags Sandhu, and later praised the restaurant on social media for feeding residents in need of a warm meal.

Rath Yatra, Puri/Wikimedia Commons — by G.-U. Tolkiehn