(courtesy of ISKCON News)

Since 2016, the Berlin ISKCON Jagannatha Temple has been celebrating the traditional Ratha Yatra at the Brandenburg Gate in the middle of the government district of the German capital. The decision to hold the traditional chariot festival at the most famous symbol of German history was a strategic consideration. In a time in which more and more people in Germany get afraid of partly unknown religious communities and their rites, the Berlin ISKCON community wanted to set a sign and stand up for "More tolerance for lived religion in society".