In order to beat the heat, which gets unbearable at around 10am, we arrived in Puri at 8:30. Cars are stopped at the main part of town, and crowds of people make a 4 km walk to the temple that houses Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra. Saffron is a color of worship so many of the walkers were donned in bright yellow-orangish clothing. Some worhippers were also doing the walk completely barefoot.
Typically, the three gods are worshipped within the Jagannath Temple, but during this festival a richly decorated and bright chariot is constructed for each. The gods are then removed from the temple, placed in their respective chariots and taken on a journey to their aunt's temple - the Gundicha Temple located 2km away.
Apparently, touching the chariot or seeing one of the gods is meant to be very auspicious, and people face sun, suffocation and potential stampedes for the chance. The pilgrimage of the chariots begins at 4pm, but we didn't think it was wise to stick around for the main event. Even still, in the early morning there were tons of people.
Over the sound of the swarms was a microphoned man leading prayers. At certain points, devotees would reach their arms up to the sky. Throughout the crowd were also men giving out sweets and other foods for pujas, or offerings to the gods.
As we made our way around the festival we found various pockets of activity.Like a minister leading around a sacred cow.
Hare Krishna devotees uniting their voices in sacred sounds.
Volunteers offering spritzes of water to help mitigate the heat.
A coconut seller cracking the fruit open against the ground. 
And a costumed man performing a sword dance, until he sees a certain American girl taking pictures and decides to pause and sing her a song.
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