Puri: Lord Jagannath and His siblings Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra wear the Kaliya-dalana attire on today’s day every year. The observation is done in the Markanda Pond of the holy city of Puri in Odisha.
Today is the second day when Lord Jagannath of Puri is attired with something related to Lord Shree Krishna. After the ‘madhyanha dhupa’, devotees get a chance to have darshan of Lord Jagannath and His siblings in the Kaliyadalana besha.
This attire gets its origin from the Kaliyadalana episode executed by Lord Shree Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga during His childhood. This day is the 11th day of the Hindu month of Bhadraba in the dark fortnight. As per legends on this day (tithi) Lord Krishna had performed ‘Kaliyadalana’.
Kaliyadalana Besha (attire) is celebrated to commemorate how Krushna controlled the proud Kaliya, the multi hooded snake residing in Kalandi Lake at the bank of river Jamuna and forced the gigantic reptile to quit the lake along with his family.
In Puri, the Kaliyadalana episode is observed in the Markanda tank while the Lord wears the Kaliyadalana besha.
Ms Kalinga