Puri: Lord Jagannath and his siblings—Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra—will be adorned with gold jewellery as part of ‘Suna Besha’ rituals, inside the sanctorum sanctum of Srimandir on the occasion of Dola Purnima March 9, an official said after attending a meeting of the Chhatisha Nijog here Wednesday.
Chaired by Srimandir chief administrator Krishan Kumar, the meeting decided to ensure early performance of ‘Mendhapodi’ and ‘Pahuda’ rituals March 8.
“Thereafter, the temple doors will be opened at 3am and other rituals will follow. On March 9, servitors will start decorating the divinities with gold jewellery at 8am and complete the adornment by 9.30am. Shridolagovinda, Sridevi and Bhudevi will be taken onto the palanquin at 10am,” said an official.
The official further said that the deities will be taken onto the ‘Dolabedi’ around 11.30am after a few other rituals. After ‘Gopal Ballav’ and ‘Sakala Dhupa’ rituals, ‘Bhogamandapa’ will be accomplished at 1.30pm.
“Later, the deities will return to Srimandir after completion of ‘Dolabedi’ rituals at 9pm. The ‘Suna Besha Mailam’ will be performed at 10.35pm wherein the jewellery will be taken off the divinities. The ‘Pahuda’ ritual will be done at 3.45am after a few other customs,” the official pointed out. The temple administration has sought active participation of the servitors to ensure early conduct of the rituals.
District Collector Balwant Singh, superintendent of police (SP) Umashankar Dash, administrator (Niti) Jitendra Kumar Sahoo and several Chhatisha Nijog members among others attended the meet.
Temple to be plastic free by month end
Srimandir will be plastic free by the end of this month, an official said Wednesday.
A meeting of servitor representatives of Chhatisha Nijog Wednesday decided that traditional palm leaf boxes would be used for packing Mahaprasad instead of polythene and plastic materials.
“Servitors and the devotees would be sensitised about the adverse effect of using plastic materials for 20 days this month and the new rule would come into force from first of April,” the official pointed out, adding that persons found chewing betel leaf and spitting on the temple complex premises would be fined of Rs 500.
This apart, the offering of ‘bhog’ would be made as per new schedule to enable devotees to get Mahaprasad, added the official.
