Lakhs of devotees throng Puri to witness sacred Snana Yatra ritual

Bhubaneswar: Lakhs of devotees thronged to the sacred city of Puri in Odisha to witness the divine spectacle of 'Snana Purnima' or the 'Deva Snana Purnima', the ritual bathing of holy triad -- Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra -- at the famous Jagannath temple on Monday. This marks the beginning of the famous Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to begin from July 16 this year. As per the schedule, the servitors on early morning on Monday brought the deities from their sanctum sanctorum to the bathing platform 'Snana Vedi' in a grand procession called 'Pahandi Bije' ritual with the blowing of traditional musical instruments such as gongs, conch shells, etc. The holy siblings are scheduled to be bathed by the servitors with 108 pitchers of holy, fragrant water drawn from a mysterious well known as the 'Sunakua' or the 'Golden Well' inside the temple between noon and 2 p.m. After the ceremonial bath, the deities will be decked up with specially made elephant masks popularly known as 'Gajanana Besha' or 'Hathi Besha'. Later, the deities return to the temple and are placed in the 'Anasaragruha' (isolation room). It is said that the holy siblings suffer from fever due to the bathing and remain out of bounds for all, except Daita and Pati servitors. The idols of the three deities then make an appearance after the 'anasara' or quarantine in a new appearance known as "Naba Jaubana Darshana". On the auspicious occasion of Snana Purnima, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited Puri and offered prayers to Lord Jagannath on the 'Snana Bedi' (bathing altar). After offering the prayers, CM Majhi said, “The wish to have darshan of Lord Jagannath on the occasion of Dev Snana Yatra is fulfilled today. I prayed to the Lord for the well-being of people across the globe, as well as in Odisha, and to make Odisha prosperous. I also prayed for the smooth and hassle-free conduct of the upcoming Ratha Yatra festival." He later inspected the ongoing construction work of the chariots for the upcoming Rath Yatra. The Puri Police have made elaborate arrangements for crowd control and to avoid any untoward incident during the Snana Yatra festival. According to Odisha Police sources, four Commandants/SP-rank officers, 14 Additional SPs/Deputy Commandants, 31 DSPs/Assistant Commandants, 83 Inspectors/Sub-Inspectors, 340 SIs/ASIs and 79 platoons of police personnel, supported by specialised units, have been deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the Snana Yatra