First ever Sri Jagannath Rathayatra in Sacramento, Capital City of California.

ISKCON Sacramento celebrated its first Ratha Yatra in front of the California State Capitol Building, which serves as a museum and the State’s working seat of government, on Sept 18, 2022. More than seven hundred devotees from all over California participated in the event with great excitement. Sacramento now joins Srila Prabhupada’s grand vision of celebrating the Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival in every city. This festival will put ISKCON Sacramento on the map of worldwide ISKCON centers that observe the Ratha Yatra annually. The festival was made possible by the support of ISKCON Berkeley. Devotees from San Diego, Los Angeles, ISV, and Berkeley, including HG Jagannatha Das, HG Bahushira Das (ACBSP), HG Ratnabhushan Das, HG Yamunapathi Das (ACBSP), and several others, helped to bring the program together with their efforts and resources. ISKCON centers of Sacramento and Folsom joined hands in successfully executing the program.

This celebration is a tribute to all devotees who tirelessly supported this event, especially HG Paradhyeya Das (ACBSP), who began the chapter in Sacramento nearly twenty years ago and has not been physically well recently. We offer our deepest gratitude to Paradhyeya Das and our prayers for his speedy recovery. We sincerely pray for the blessings of Vaishnavas that Sacramento continues to host this beautiful festival every year in the service of Srila Prabhupad’s mission.