The permanent residents of the Shri Jagannath Temple, in the Indian coastal town of Puri in Odisha, usually have busy schedules. Every year, three idols, representing the holy siblings Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra see and bless millions of Hindu pilgrims. But every June, the idols go on sick leave, a fortnight of isolation and purification before emerging again for the Rath Yatra (“cart journey”) festival, in which three 45-foot-tall chariots, one for each deity, process through the town, with an audience of hundreds of thousands (“Jagannath” is the source…
