Perhaps for the first time, the Jagannath Temple in Puri remained open all night for public darshan on Sunday so that devotees could offer prayers to Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities on the eve of Kartik Purnima.

Keeping in view the massive gathering of devotees on holy Kartik Purnima, the temple administration took a decision in this regard. Around one lakh devotees were expected to throng the shrine.

On Kartik Purnima, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are adorned in Raj Rajeswar Besha.

After performing the Mangal Arati, Mailam, Tadap Lagi and Abakash rituals of the Trinity and offering Gopal Bhog, the servitors started dressing the deities with huge gold ornaments and other valuable items. After completion of the dressing, all the Lords wore the Raj Rajeswar Besha, which is similar to Suna Besha on the chariots in front of the Lions Gate of the temple.

Large numbers of devotees took holy dip in Panch Tirtha (five sacred ponds) on the occasion and floated boats (Boita) at Mahodadhi (sea beach). Then, they thronged the temple to get a glimpse of the deities.

This Raj Rajeswar Besha is observed on Kartik Purnima. This Besha was mostly liked by the local kings of Odisha and they used to donate different golden ornaments bejeweled with valuable stones. The deities are decorated with 23 types of golden ornaments, all made in pure gold, weighing over 200 kg.

Meanwhile, elaborate arrangements were made by the SJTA and the Puri district police for smooth darshan of the Trinity on Kartik Purnima on Monday. At least 10 platoons of police personnel were deployed for crowd control. Besides, more lifeguards were stationed on the beach to prevent any untoward incident.

Special arrangements were made for roads leading to Puri from Bhubaneswar, Konark and Brahmagiri, said Puri SP KB Singh.