About 600 years ago Drubananda Brahmachari, a sage from Bengal, reached Puri with the mission to offer some food to the lord Jagannath. The tedious 200-mile journey through the chase of wild animals and various hazards, would not leave the devotee as distraught as the decision of the local authority of the Puri Temple did: they blocked his way to reach the idol and Drubananda Brahmachari was denied his offering to Lord Jagannath.

But one night, when Brahmachari was almost consumed by fatigue and fell asleep, the Lord revealed to him in a dream. “Drubananda, go back to Bengal. On the bank of Bhagirathi, you will find a place called Mahesh. There I shall send you a huge Daru-Brahma (Neem trunk). Carve Idols of Balaram, Subhadra and mine out of this trunk. I am eager to have ‘Bhoga’ (cooked offering) from your hand,” said the god. Inspired by the call of the Lord the sage traced back home and began his Sadhana. And faith fetched the fruit of devotion in no time.

Shortly after, a night when rain lashed Mahesh vehemently, Brahmachari discovered three pieces of wooden log and began sculpting Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra. The deft stroke of chisel in his hand morphed the shapeless piece of wood into the figure of each of the trinity. Immersed in divine love, the sage founded a temple nearby to house the deities.

In 1397, in the same temple, the celebration of Rath Yatra (chariot journey) had a beginning. The festival remembers the yearly trip of Lord Jagannath – incarnation of Lord Krishna -  to his birthplace Gundicha Ghar, where his aunt lived. Accompanied by Balaram and Subhadra, Lord Jagannath would spend seven days every year at his aunt's place, and travel by chariot.

To reenact the trip, during the festival, the idols from the temple in Mahesh are taken through the streets on beautifully decorated wooden chariot resembling temple structures. The journey ends at the Gundicha Ghar where the idols of the deities are dismounted from the chariots and taken inside. After a week, the deities are returned back on chariots to their original abode, the Jagannath Temple.     

The Rath Yatra (chariot festival) of Mahesh, celebrated since 1397 is the oldest and the biggest Ratha Yatra in Bengal. Around Four lakhs of people from all over the world visit Mahesh to experience the month-long fair. All of them want to have a share in the pulling of the long ropes attached to the chariot, 45 feet high with nine spires in traditional Bengali Nabaratna style, on 12 iron wheels.

Elders and youngsters alike want to share the spirit of this annual carnival. While the present generation calls it a fair, the aged group considers it as a chance meeting with Lord Jagannath – the Lord of Universe. As they know, ‘Jagat’ means Universe while ‘Nath’ is  Lord.