The five thousand year old Hindu festival Ratha Yatra or Festival of Chariots is celebrated in Dublin.
The focal point of the Dublin celebration of the oldest festival in the Hindu calendar is a forty foot chariot or "Rath Cart" resembling a temple structure or Jagannath. The chariot which was brought from England carries the three deity figures of Lord Jagannātha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadrā.
A type of mobile Hindu Temple adorned with scented flower petals which is dragged by rope through the streets.
The Irish Krishna Movement chose Dublin's Millennium year to celebrate the religious festival for the first time.
One of the mysteries about the festival in India is that a date is never publically fixed. Millions of people show up at the Jagannath Puri near Calcutta every year, by reading the position of the moon and the stars.
The Lord Mayor Alderman Carmencita Hederman was due to launch the procession through O'Connell Street in Dublin's city centre. However, she couldn't attend at the last minute.
The Ratha Yatra Parade is the climax of India Week ending with a vegetarian feast in the Mansion House.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 2 July 1988. The reporter is Cathy Halloran.
