Bāhudā Yātrā is the homecoming of Jagannātha, Balabhadra and Subhadrā. At Ratha Yātrā the three deities ride out to the Guṇḍicā temple, and on Āṣāḍha Śukla Daśamī their chariots are drawn back to the Śrīmandira. The deities enter the sanctum a few days later at Nīlādri Bije. For Odia devotees the return journey is as dear as the outward one. How the day is fixed: Bāhudā Yātrā is the civil day on which Āṣāḍha Śukla Daśamī prevails at local sunrise. It usually comes in late June or July. Keep in mind: Ratha Yātrā on Āṣāḍha Śukla Dvitīyā takes the deities out, and Bāhudā on the Daśamī brings them back. The two are separate days of the same festival season. This year: The 2027 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. The return of the chariots: The three chariots leave Guṇḍicā and are drawn back along the road to the Śrīmandira by the crowds of devotees. Nīlādri Bije: The deities do not enter the temple at once. Nīlādri Bije, their return to the sanctum, follows in the next days. Worth remembering: In Bengal the same return on the same tithi is called Ulto Rath, and it is kept as a separate festival. Bāhudā is the Odia name for the homecoming at Puri. How a family keeps Bāhudā depends on where it lives and what it has always done. Some go to Puri to pull the ropes, others watch the return from home and pray to Jagannātha. What unites them is the joy of the deities coming home. For the details, follow the practice the elders of your own house have kept.
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