Bhubaneswar, July 16 -- The 2026 Rath Yatra in Puri concluded smoothly despite continuous rain and adverse weather conditions, adding that two devotees who died during the festival did not succumb due to any stampede or crowd management-related incident.

According to the CMO release, around 8 to 9 lakh devotees from Odisha, across the country and abroad participated in the world-famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Chakra Raj Sudarshan.

All rituals associated with the festival, including the pulling of the chariots, were completed as per schedule. Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peeth also visited the chariots and offered prayers to the deities.

The state government said elaborate arrangements h...