Rath yatra websites. Telegraph pictures

Thousands of miles away in the US, Shreya surfs her Facebook pages and reminisces about her childhood rath yatra days. This is her first year abroad and the very first time that she’s missed the sacred festival. However, Shreya is not heartbroken. Credit goes to the satellite and Internet. Now, she can watch the car festival online and even share her memories and thoughts on Facebook and Orkut ‘rath yatra community’ sites.

For Sandeep, a Delhi-ite and a first-time yatra visitor, the social networking sites proved useful, helping him with the nitty gritty about Puri hotels, the festival, yatra calendar, package tours and many more. A click on the Facebook community — Rath Yatra Puri 2011 — and Sandeep was flooded with information about the event.

Several websites on the yatra have also come up such as, rathyatra.org, rathjatra.nic.in, puriwaves.nirmalya.in and many more, where details and itinerary about the nine-day festival are doled out to visitors. On ameodia.com, Jagannath culture expert Suryanarayan Rath Sharma and others have shared their articles, hymns and poetry on Lord Jagannath.

These social networking sites have turned into an active platform to attract and invite pilgrims from all over the world. They also act as a forum where the yatra visitors can upload images and video clippings and share their views and experiences about the event.

“My tight work schedule never permits me to go to Puri and pull the chariot. It’s been years that I have participated in the yatra. I don’t even have the time to watch the rath yatra live on television. But, I make it a point to join one of the rath yatra communities on the various social networking sites, where I know that people will upload videos and images of the yatra,” said software engineer Purnachandra Panda.

Innovative and colourful greeting e-cards and sms wishes, especially created for rath yatra, are also available on various websites such as 99colours.com, sms140blogspot.com.

The new-age social networking sites have moved beyond petty chit chat and frivolous display of personal life to a commendable task. It not only boosts the state tourism and culture, but also performs the role of a sorcerer for all the devotees who have missed the opportunity to pay homage to the Lord or those who wish to share their festival experience.