Dhamrai Ratha Yatra held at Dhamrai is a popular Jagannath Rath Yatra festival in Bangladesh and is slightly different from the world famous Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra festival held in India. Dhamrai Ratha Yatra 2025 date is June 27. The Rath Yatra at Dhamrai began before 1670s. A single chariot is pulled during the annual Dhamrai Rath Yatra not three as in Puri.
As per historical records, the first recorded Rath was constructed using bamboo in the 1670s. This Ratha was replaced with one made of wood. In the subsequent centuries, four different chariots were made. In 1933 CE, a three-storied chariot was made. It was 60 feet in height and 45 feet in width and represented a Nabaratna temple. But this magnificent chariot was burned down in 1971 by the Pakistani Army as part of the ethnic cleansing which the Pakistan Army unleashed on Bangladesh Hindus. Bamboo chariots were used after this brutal incident for the next several decades.
The present 3-storied Rath was built in 2010 with the help of
Indian High Commission. The present ratha or the chariot is a wooden Nabaratna
temple having nine shikharas.
It has a height of 27 feet and width of 27 feet. It has 15 wheels
and is adorned with murtis of different Hindu gods and goddesses.
The chariot is pulled from the Madhabbari Temple to the Gope
Nagar Temple, regarded to be the aunt’s house, a distance of about half a
kilometer away. After eight days the chariot is pulled back as part of the Ulto
Rath ritual.