Tragedies during Jagannath Rath Yatra 2025
The 2025 Jagannath Rath Yatra witnessed unfortunate incidents, including an elephant-induced chaos in Ahmedabad and a deadly stampede in Puri, Odisha.
The grand celebrations of Jagannath Rath Yatra 2025 are happening all over India with great devotion and excitement. But during such large religious events, there is always a risk of accidents, just like past stampedes seen at the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, Delhi station, and RCB’s victory parade.
Sadly, this year’s Rath Yatra also witnessed two unfortunate incidents — one in Ahmedabad and the other in Puri.
On 27 June 2025, the 148th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath began in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. As part of the tradition, the procession had 17 elephants, around 100 trucks, and 30 akhadas (religious groups), and it covered a distance of 16 km through the city.
But when the procession reached Khadia Gate, the only male elephant in the group got scared due to loud noise. It broke the barricade and rushed into a narrow lane. Two female elephants, guided by their mahouts, followed it and helped control the situation quickly.
Two people got injured while running away in panic. However, the elephant was brought under control without using any tranquiliser (a medicine that calms animals). After this, the male and two female elephants were tied at that spot, and the Yatra continued with the remaining 14 elephants.
Another more serious incident happened on 29 June 2025 in Puri, Odisha. Around 4:30 AM, during the chariot movement near Shree Gundicha Temple, a stampede broke out.
Thousands of devotees had gathered to see the Raths (chariots) of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra. The problem began when two trucks carrying ritual items tried to enter the already crowded area near the chariots.
In the resulting chaos, three people died on the spot — Premakant Mohanty (80), Basanti Sahoo (36), and Prabhati Das (42). Around 50 others were injured in the stampede.
Eyewitnesses blamed poor crowd control, VIP arrangements, and slow emergency response for the incident. One man, who lost his wife, said the rescue and fire teams did not respond on time.
A day before the stampede, on 28 June, more than 750 people were reported to have suffered from heat exhaustion due to the huge crowd and hot weather.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed sorrow over the deaths and announced ?25 lakh compensation for each victim’s family. He also took action against officials — suspending Puri DCP Bishnu Charan Pati, Police Commandant Ajay Padhi, and transferring Collector Siddharth S Swain and SP Binit Agarwal.
These incidents are a sad reminder that while faith and celebration are important, proper planning and safety must come first during large public events.
