Case Study: How Aashirvaad Atta used Rath Yatra to create tech-led devotional experiences

Aashirvaad Atta organised a nine-day on-ground activation, titled Bhakti Pathe, during Rath Yatra 2025 in Puri. The initiative combined traditional rituals with technology to make the festival more accessible for devotees amid heavy crowds.

The activation featured a holographic darshan of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra, allowing pilgrims to experience a lifelike view of the deities. A digital prasad-making zone enabled devotees to virtually prepare and offer prasad using touchscreen interfaces, recording over 30,000 digital offerings. Visitors could also generate AI-powered Rath Yatra greeting mementos, delivered via WhatsApp.

According to the brand, the initiative drew more than one lakh visitors over nine days, with 239 media stories covering the event and an estimated 160 million impressions across digital platforms.

Category introduction

The Indian atta (wheat flour) category is a large and culturally embedded market, valued at over ₹80,000 crore. Traditionally unbranded and sourced from local mills, the category has seen a strong shift towards branded offerings driven by rising health awareness, hygiene concerns, and convenience. Leading brands are focusing on nutritional innovation, purity assurance, and local storytelling to stay relevant. Festival-led campaigns present a unique opportunity for atta brands to reinforce their role in sacred rituals, everyday meals, and moments of community, making the category not just about food, but about trust, tradition, and togetherness.

Brand introduction 

Aashirvaad Atta, one of India’s packaged wheat flour brands, has a presence in households across the country with a portfolio that spans variants such as multigrain, sugar release control atta, and other staples including salt, spices, vermicelli, and ready-to-eat meals.

The brand has maintained a visible association with festivals such as Rath Yatra in Odisha, where food plays an integral role in rituals and offerings. Its campaigns during the festival have positioned the product within a cultural and devotional context, linking everyday staples to moments of religious significance.

Marketing objective from social media

To enhance brand recall and emotional connection by:

• Showcasing the brand's role in sacred traditions

• Highlighting the product’s purity through digital storytelling

• Amplifying festival-specific innovation to a wider digital audience

• Driving social sharing and digital engagement with Rath Yatra followers and cultural enthusiasts

Summary

For several years, the brand has marked its presence during Rath Yatra celebrations in Odisha through on-ground activations that incorporate both traditional and digital elements. Past initiatives have included formats such as virtual darshan and VR-led rath-pulling experiences.

In 2025, the brand launched a nine-day activation titled Bhakti Pathe, which introduced a series of technology-led experiences aimed at widening access to rituals during the festival. The activation featured a holographic darshan of the deities, designed to provide a closer view amidst heavy crowds. It also included a digital prasad-making zone and AI-generated souvenirs for visitors.

The initiative represented the brand’s continued attempt to integrate festival-led engagement with interactive technology, situating its presence within a cultural and devotional context.

Problem statement

While Rath Yatra continues to draw millions of devotees, the traditional intimacy and spiritual depth of the experience often gets lost in the scale and crowd, especially for those unable to access the deities closely. In a high-decibel festive environment where multiple brands activate their campaigns, there is a need to move beyond surface-level visibility and create meaningful, emotionally resonant connections with devotees.

The brand sought to reclaim this spiritual closeness by blending tradition with innovation, offering pilgrims a way to interact with rituals personally and memorably, while reaffirming the brand’s role in sacred and daily life.

Objectives

• Position Aashirvaad Atta as a spiritual enabler, reinforcing its purity and relevance in rituals through innovative on-ground engagement.

• Restore emotional intimacy between devotees and rituals during Rath Yatra using immersive storytelling and technology.

• Stand out amid festival clutter by offering a differentiated, tech-enabled spiritual experience.

• Encouraging more consumers/devotees to gain experience by participating in the tech enabled activation

• Create a lasting emotional imprint, turning the brand from a household staple into a cultural and devotional ally.

Brief

• Resonates with culturally rooted consumers

• Offer interactive and shareable touchpoints

• Keeps the brand product at the heart of devotion

• Drive both footfall and social sharing

Creative idea 

“Path of Devotion Meets Tech of Today” – The core creative insight was to modernise age-old rituals without compromising on emotion or sanctity. Bhakti Pathe was envisioned as a physical and emotional space where every devotee, regardless of their physical proximity to the deities, could participate in the festival intimately and meaningfully.

At the heart of this idea was the holographic darshan, which offered devotees a lifelike, reverent experience of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra seated on their celestial raths. Even amidst the overwhelming crowd, this moment allowed pilgrims to connect with the divine up-close, rekindling the personal, immersive feeling of devotion that is often lost in large-scale celebrations.

Challenges

• Translating tradition into tech without losing emotional depth: The core challenge was ensuring that technology enhanced the sanctity of the experience rather than overshadowing it.

• Breaking through festive clutter:Rath Yatra sees an influx of brands attempting visibility. Standing out required more than physical presence, it demanded emotional resonance and spiritual relevance that aligned authentically with the festival’s essence.

• Creating impact amid high footfall chaos: Designing an experience that felt personal and sacred during massive crowds meant every element, from registration to darshan - had to be seamless, scalable, and sensory.

Execution 

On-ground activation (Puri)

Gamified digital prasad-making zone

• Devotees virtually prepared traditional prasad using Aashirvaad Shudh Chakki Atta

• Offered prasad to the deity using touchscreen interfaces

• Over 30000 digital prasad creations logged

Holographic darshan

• The spiritual highlight of the experience came with the holographic darshan, as a massive LED screen dramatically split open, revealing Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra on their celestial raths. The moment stirred collective reverence, as the crowd broke into spontaneous chants of "Jai Jagannath!" a powerful testament to the activation’s ability to touch hearts while honouring tradition.

Rath Yatra filter mementos

• • Devotees got their photo taken and received a custom AI-generated Rath Yatra greeting via WhatsApp

Media and digital outreach

• On-Ground Media Walkthroughs:

• Exclusive journalist walkthroughs of the activation zone enabled first-hand storytelling, ensuring authentic and engaging content across print, digital, and broadcast media

• Live coverage provided real-time visibility on Electronic Channels

• PR amplification across major eastern region publications

Results 

Quantitative

• Footfall: Over 1 lakh devotees visited Bhakti Pathe

• 30000 digital prasad offerings made

• In total, 239 media coverage was garnered, reaching an impressive ME Value of 2.75 crores.

• Impressions & Reach: Achieved over 160 million impressions across digital and social media platforms, along with TV coverage on major CAT A channels.

Qualitative

• Emotional resonance built through spiritual storytelling

• Positive sentiment around a brand creating culturally sensitive innovation

• Reinforcement of Aashirvaad as more than just a food brand – a part of sacred celebrations

Anuj Rustagi, COO, Staples & Adjacencies, Foods Division, ITC Ltd said, “Aashirvaad has always believed in honouring India’s sacred traditions in ways that feel both timeless and relevant. Every year during Rath Yatra, brands initiatives are designed with one purpose - to serve the devotees and deepen their spiritual connection. With this year’s campaign, Bhakti Pathe, our endeavour was to make devotion more accessible using the power of technology without losing the emotional sanctity of the ritual. What we witnessed over the 9 days was truly humbling, people folding their hands before a hologram, smiling after offering digital prasad, or simply pausing for a moment of quiet reflection amidst the bustle of Rath Yatra. This experience created a sacred space for emotional reconnection, for those who couldn’t reach the deities through the crowds, Bhakti Pathe brought the divine closer to them.”