Puri: Lakhs of devotees from across the state and beyond converged in Puri Wednesday to witness the Bahuda Yatra — the return journey of the three sibling deities — from Gundicha temple to their original abode in Srimandir.
Pulling of the Holy Trinity’s chariots began 3 hours before the scheduled time at around 1:15pm following the completion of Chhera Panhara ritual.
Titular king of Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb performed the ‘Chhera Panhara’ ritual — the ceremonial sweeping of the chariots with a golden broom and sprinkled flowers along with fragrant water.
Prior to that, idols of the deities were escorted to their respective chariots by servitors in Dhadi Pahandi, a ceremonial procession.
Amid the beating of gongs, cymbals, and ‘Hori Bol’ chantings, pahandi rituals of Lord Sudarshan began at around 8;20am and later he was ensconced on the ‘Nandighosh’ chariot.
Afterwards, the pahandi rituals of Lord Balabhadra began at around 8:50am and he reached his chariot ‘Taladhwaja’ at around 10:00am.
Subsequently, the pahandi rituals of Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath commenced at 9am and 9:30am respectively.
Lord Jagannath was seated on his 45-feet high chariot ‘Nandighosh’, Lord Balabhadra on 44-feet high ‘Taladhwaja’ and Subhadra on 43-feet high ‘Darpadalan’.
Followed by the ceremonial sweeping, the chariots were pulled by devotees, who have flocked ‘Bada Danda’ – the grand avenue leading to Shri Jagannath temple – up to the Lion’s gate in front of Srimandir.
The idols would reenter the 12th-century shrine and again be placed on the ‘Ratna Singhasana’, the bejewelled throne, following a ceremony called ‘Neeladribije’ scheduled to be held July 1.
Ahead of ‘Neeladribije’, the idols would be decorated with ‘Sunabesha’ Thursday on their chariots.
Police personnel and other central security forces have been deployed in Puri to ensure smooth celebrations of the return car festival.
Notably, there are two types of Pahandi — Dhadi Pahandi and Goti Pahandi. Dhadi Pahadi — where deities are brought one after another simultaneously — is performed when the Trinity is brought from the Srimandir to the chariots. Goti Pahandi — in which the next deity is brought to the chariot only after the first one reaches — is performed during the Bahuda festival.
PNN
