A First: Nation’s Brightest to Intern at India’s Grandest Spiritual Event

For the first time, India’s premier academic minds from IITs, IIMs, and leading policy institutes will step beyond classrooms and boardrooms to work behind the scenes at Jagannath Rath Yatra 2025. The initiative is part of a Public Systems and Infrastructure Internship introduced by the Puri District Administration, offering students hands-on exposure to the complexities of organizing one of India’s largest spiritual gatherings.

This bold convergence of tradition and talent signals a new model of civic learning — one rooted in culture, logistics, and service.

Understanding Rath Yatra: A Test of Devotion and Public Systems

Held annually in Puri, Odisha, the Jagannath Rath Yatra is a centuries-old tradition drawing over a million pilgrims from across the country and beyond. The festival involves the grand procession of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra on massive chariots through the streets of Puri.

But behind the divine spectacle lies a logistical behemoth — crowd control, sanitation, emergency preparedness, water supply, food distribution, traffic management, and coordination across dozens of public agencies. Over 10,000 police personnel, health workers, municipal staff, and volunteers are mobilized each year to ensure smooth conduct.

This year, joining them will be India’s brightest students, not just as observers but as contributors.

Interning at the Intersection of Faith and Function

The selected interns will spend 10 to 15 days on-site in Puri, working in areas like:

·       Crowd dynamics and behavior mapping

·       Sanitation and waste infrastructure

·       Emergency response and health systems

·       Seva stall operations

·       Digital engagement and citizen communication

Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain (IAS) described the festival as “an exercise in scale, devotion, and coordination,” asserting that it’s time young leaders “experience nation-building in the field.”

The students won’t just learn — they’ll help build and optimize. Their observations and data will feed into reports that may shape future editions of Rath Yatra and inspire innovations for similar mass events nationwide.

‘Seva Through System Building’: A New Ethos

This internship reframes seva (service) — traditionally seen as volunteering — into systemic contribution. By tackling real-time issues, interns will understand governance under pressure and the power of efficient systems in service delivery.

Applications are already pouring in. For these students, it’s a rare opportunity to see logistics meet spirituality, and theory meet practice — not in boardrooms, but amidst millions of people and centuries of tradition.

Bridging Culture and Civic Learning

The programme is being facilitated by Chaaipani, a storytelling agency managing brand activations for Rath Yatra 2025. Its founder, Shruti Chaturvedi, emphasized the uniqueness of the opportunity:

“This is where human behavior, logistics, tradition, and real public systems converge. It’s not a simulation — it’s India, live.”

A Transformational Step in Nation-Building

By welcoming top-tier students into the machinery of one of India’s most complex civic-religious events, Odisha is redefining leadership training. It shows that real education is as much about exposure to the ground as it is about knowledge in books.

This initiative doesn’t just honor heritage — it modernizes it, making space for innovation without losing spiritual essence. And in doing so, it reminds us that the future of governance lies in hands that are both skilled and rooted.

(With agency inputs)