Puri: After the ‘Sahan Mela’ or public darshan, the sibling deities were taken back to the sanctum sanctorum of the 12th-century shrine and placed in the ‘Anasara Ghar’ (isolation room), where they will remain for 14 days due to illness following the ceremonial bath. During this period, the temple ‘Baidya’ (physician) will treat the deities with herbal medicines. Public darshan will remain suspended until June 26, a day before the annual Rath Yatra June 27. The festival, ‘Deva Snana Purnima’ held Wednesday, is observed on the full moon day of the month of ‘Jyestha’. It marks the first occasion in the year when the wooden idols are taken out of the sanctum sanctorum in a grand procession and placed on the ‘Snana Mandap’ for the ceremonial bath. The day is also celebrated as the birthday of Lord Jagannath.
As per the Skanda Purana, the ritual was introduced by King Indradyumna, who installed the wooden deities in the 12th-century shrine. Following the bathing ceremony, Puri’s titular king, Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, performed the traditional ‘Chhera Panhara’ (sweeping) ritual at the Snana Mandap. Soon after the bathing ceremony, Gajapati Maharaja, Puri’s titular king Dibyasingha Deb performed the ‘Chhera Panhara’ (sweeping) ritual at ‘Snana Mandap’. The deities were dressed up in ‘Sada Besha’ (plain dress) and later ‘Hati Besha’ (elephant attire, a form of Lord Ganesha). While Lord Jagannath is dressed as a black elephant, Lord Balabhadra takes the form of a white elephant, and Goddess Subhadra is dressed in Kumari Besha. Raghav Das Mutt and Gopaltirtha Mutt suppled the materials as per a prolonged tradition, said Bhaskar Mishra, a researcher in the Jagannath culture.
On the occasion, security was tightened in Puri with the deployment of 70 platoons (1 platoon comprising 30 personnel) of force and 450 officers, said SP Vinit Agarwal. “Some lakh devotees witnessed the bathing ritual of the deities for which elaborate arrangements have been made for crowd management, traffic regulation and ground control. The forces are deployed inside and outside the temple and at the seaside,” the SP said. The SP said that barricades were erected to manage the smooth movement of devotees during the ceremonial bathing of the deities. “For the first time, the police are using AI-based surveillance cameras, linked to a new integrated control room, for real-time monitoring,” he added. Puri district collector Siddharth Swain said, “The administration made all arrangements like shade, and medical help for devotees. The fire department also made arrangements.” All the departments made adequate arrangements to ensure minimum discomfort for devotees who came here for darshan of Lord Jagannath, Swain said.
