Devotion for Lord Jagannath has spread beyond borders, and so has the chariot festival. Rath yatra will be celebrated in Odisha on July 6, but the festivities and chariot pulling in other countries have already begun.

In Singapore last week, more than 10,000 Odia people and natives engaged in the festivities. Rituals similar to the main festival at Puri were held, following which the chariots were taken around a local stadium where the festival was hosted.

"Rath yatra is very special for every Odia people. I hail from Sakhigopal so I am aware of the festival's charm. It is not possible for us to travel to Puri every year, but we make sure that we celebrate it here," said Nivedita Mohapatra, who lives in Singapore.

The festival was also hosted on Daytona Beach in Florida on May 29. Decorated in bright coloured flowers, the Lord, and His siblings, were taken on a ride in the chariots on the beach by hundreds of devotees.

"It is not possible for us to celebrate the festival on the day of rath yatra as there are holiday and permission issues. So, we select a date and host the event. This year, a number of Indian people residing in Florida participated. We had a lot of fun," said Banikalyan Swain, a teacher at a university in the state.

Rath yatra will also be held at other places this month. The Birmingham rath yatra, which is in its 16th edition this year, will be hosted on July 24 from Victoria Square to the City Centre and back again. This will be followed by a cultural festival featuring traditional dance, music and drama, meditation and market stalls.

The past four decades have witnessed the festival blossom into one of Toronto's most head-turning events. Touted as the annual festival of India, which is in its 44th edition this year, the event will be held at Yonge Street beginning from Bloor and continuing south to Queens Quay.

The celebrations then will shift to Centre Island for two days of festivities and is expected to draw close to 40,000 people.

The festival will be conducted in Zambia on July 9 and in Denver in July 17.

The first rath yatra outside India was held on July 9, 1967, in San Francisco and now, parades are held in major cities all over the world including Miami, Los Angeles where the festival began in 1977, seven cities in Canada, including Vancouver, and Leicester and Stockholm among others.

The festival will also be held in other lesser-known cities like Vladimir, Moscow and Dnepropetovsk in Ukraine. In most of the places the festival is hosted by spiritual body Iskcon while in many places Odia associations host rath yatra.