KalingaTV News Network
Puri: Religious fervour gripped the holy city Puri starting from the morning today ahead of the ‘Snana Yatra’ (ceremonial bath) of the ‘Chaturdha Murti’ (quaternity) which is scheduled to be held later in the day at Sri Jagannath temple here. The ritual marks the beginning of the Annual Rath Yatra festival.
Devotees in large numbers thronged the religious town which donned a new look for this once a year opportunity during which they take a glimpse of their beloved deities on ‘Snana Bedi’ (bathing dais) and avail ‘Sahana Mela’ (free public darshan).
As a part of the ‘Snana Yatra’ rituals, the temple servitors took the holy trinity along with Lord Sudarshan in ‘Dhadi Pahandi’ in the morning. While Lord Sudarshan was the first to get escorted to the bathing dais, he was followed by Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Goddess Subhadra.
As per the prevailing practise in the temple, Lord Jagannath would be bathed with 35 pots of aromatic water while the number has been kept at 33, 22 and 18 for Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Sudarshan. The ritual for the ‘quaternity’ would be carried out by the Pujapanda servitors.
After completion of the divine bath on the dais, the deities would don the ‘Hati Besha’ or elephant attire as a part of the ritual. Later they would give the free public darshan to the deities at around 7.30 PM. It would continue till 9.30 PM.
As it is believed that the deities fell sick after the bath, they would be given a ceremonial procession to the ‘Anasar Ghar’ by the servitors to take rest. After getting rid of the fever the deities would give darshan to the deities on the occasion of ‘Nabjoubana Darshan’, which is held a day before the annual Rath Yatra which is scheduled for July 14 this year.
Ms Kalinga