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The Friends of Leicester Rathayatra is a group of dedicated devotees of Lord Jagannatha committed to ensuring the continued success, improvement and expansion of the Leicester Rathayatra for generations to come.
The Leicester Rathayatra is one of the the biggest devotional events within the Hindu tradition in Leicester. It brings the Holy Name, Prasadam and the Darshan of the Deities to thousands of Leicester visitors and tourists. It also attracts extensive media coverage on TV, radio and in the newspapers, which help promoting spiritual values and religious tolerance.
In the Chaitanya Charitamrita we read how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and all the devotees from different parts of India would meet once a year at the Jagannatha Car Festival in Puri, so devotees from all over the Midlands, and further afield, make the pilgrimage to Leicester each year. The whole family of Sanatana Dharma is united in the worship of the Lord of the Universe, Lord Jagannatha.
Over 200 volunteers are involved in different areas to ensure the smooth running of the Rathayatra festival. Some things need doing months, weeks or days in advance, whilst obviously there is an enormous amount happening on the day. Afterwards, of course, there is the cleaning up.
The annual cost of the festival has now reached about £7,000 (a break-down is available on request). These costs are kept to a minimum by careful financial control and by the voluntary contributions of manpower, resources and food.
The Friends of Leicester Rathayatra want to see the continuity of the festival secured year after year.
In the months and weeks leading up to Rathayatra, and also on the day, many
Friends volunteer their skills in the service of the Lord. As you can imagine,
a vast array of services are required, as described on the rathayatra
home page. 
(c) International Society for Krishna Consciousness 2004
Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada