A minute’s silence will be held in Leicester this weekend to honour the victims of the recent Air India plane crash.
The tribute will take place during the opening of the city’s annual Rathayatra Festival of Chariots, this Sunday (June 22).
Picture credit: Pukaar News
Festival organisers have announced that the moment of reflection will take place at 11:20am on Sunday, during the event’s official inauguration. Traditional Hindu performances from Gujarat will follow at Gallowtree Gate, near Sports Direct.
Hosted by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the festival is one of Leicester’s most vibrant cultural celebrations.
Manish Babu, 46, has been named as the fourth Leicester resident who lost his life in the crash. The Air India flight went down shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12. Of the 242 passengers and crew on board, only one survived—Leicester local Viswash Kumar Ramesh. The tragedy claimed the lives of 53 British nationals, including several from Leicester.
Sunday’s festival will begin at 9am with a welcome ceremony, followed by the official inauguration. The day will conclude with a public celebration at Cossington Park at 2:30pm. A key highlight is the grand chariot procession: a 40-foot, hand-pulled chariot carrying the deities of Lord Jagannath (Krishna), his brother Baladeva, and sister Subhadra, making its way from the city centre along the Golden Mile to the park.
