Debi Prasad Das (in saffron kurta) with his family members and (above) Das performing the chera pahanra (ceremonial sweeping) at the Iskcon rath yatra at Detroit last year. Telegraph pictures

Debi Prasad Das, 41, a chemical engineer who stays in Sarnia city on the US-Canada border next to Michigan, misses Puri very much, but he also loves hopping cities in North America discovering a new divine link during the car festival.

As member of a religious family from Niali-Charichhak area of the historic Prachi valley near Bhubaneswar, each year I miss the car festival of Puri here. But of late, I have also discovered a similar enthusiasm soaked with devotion as the Indian communities living in the US cities, celebrate the festival in this faraway land.

I had experienced the famous Toronto Iskcon rath yatra in Canada. Having recently moved to Sarnia, I have got the opportunity of witnessing rath yatra in several US cities, including the one at Detroit’s Maa Parashakti Temple, where the Odia families celebrate it in a grand manner and it is just an hour’s drive crossing the US border from my city.

A mid-size rath, the Trinity, pahandi, chera pahara, tugging the rath amid the resonating Odia bhajans (devotional songs) and echoing traditional musical instruments, especially used during the car festival and kirtan by hundreds of Odias and non-Odia devotees with much fervor, make it a wonderful spiritual experience.

Families and kids bring home-cooked mahaprasad to offer to the deities and conclude the day with the unique Odia treat of dalma, besara and several varieties of pancakes of pithas.

The aroma of the unique Odia food during the festive occasion fills the area with an atmosphere of a temple rosha shala (kitchen) as the people share the food among themselves and savour them with great happiness and love.

Since cities in North America celebrate rath yatra on different weekend days following the actual ratha yatra date in Puri, I get the opportunity to plan my visits to a different city one weekend after another to experience and be part of the celebration.

Similarly, Iskcon rath yatra melas are wonderful opportunities for us to witness the divine grandeur and be lost in the transcendental bliss.

Whether an Odissi dance recital or the kirtan mela or just bringing home a little tulasi plant – it’s all so humbling and a proud feeling for an Odia on the US soil. My next stop is New Vrindaban rath yatra – for an out-of-the-world treat on top of the Ohio river valley in West Virginia.

This year’s car festival in the US will be extra special for our family. Wife Sonali, 36, son Aniket, 11, who studies in Grade VI, and I are expecting another baby in a week’s time. And to celebrate the great occasion my mom and dad have also come from Odisha to stay with us.

My parents have to return home by the month of Kartik as for many generations we are managing a mutt of Shri Radha Binoda at Thakurpatna near our village Bhadaro.

Our family maintains the rituals such as anna dhupa and bal-bhoga twice daily and presents exclusive offerings during festivities throughout the year.

As a kid, I used to bring a baby rath in my village that used to be gifted to me by my village carpenters’ families.

I used to place a mask of Lord Jagannath in that tiny chariot as it remained clearly visible from a distance. I also motivated my friends to be in the team and pull the chariot.

Later, I came to the colony of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Training (OUAT) as I started living with the family of my uncle (papa’s elder brother).

There we started pulling a bigger rath, which starts from the Gopabandhu Square and ends near the Mausi Maa temple near Siripur. As I have discovered the love for Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra among the people here and the way they celebrate the rath yatra, I am also planning to take my parents to nearby cities so that they can watch the celebrations. I will definitely take them to our Odia rath yatra in Detroit on June 29.

When I narrated them about Iskcon’s Toronto rath yatra, they got very excited to go and see that once-in-lifetime experience on July 12.

Three big chariots pulled through the middle of downtown skyscrapers, cross the great lake by boat to Centre Island, where the two-day-long fair and free prasadam to roughly 10,000 visitors/devotees is distributed.

Our next stoppage will be Detroit Iskcon rath yatra on July 19. They will go there as well, as we go to Detroit every weekend for shopping, recreation and to meet Odia families.

This year, however, our family will miss the Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) annual convention going to be held in Columbus, Ohio, during the first week of July as my wife’s delivery is expected at that time.

More than 1,000 Odias from across the North America will be celebrating the OSA cultural extravaganza.

This time the society has planned the Columbus rath yatra on the last of the convention so that all the members can celebrate it together with a never before experience and make it a history.

As told to Bibhuti Barik