Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Maa Subhadra on

Thursday exhibited them in golden attireS called the Suna Besha. Decorated with quintals of ornaments comprising gold, diamond and precious jewels, the Trinity bedazzled as lakhs of devotees waited with bated breath to catch a glimpse of the deities.

During the Besha, the entire Badadanda was jam-packed. To ensure hassle-free conduct of the event, including safety and security of the devotees, management of the traffic and smooth darshan, the police and the district administration made elaborate arrangements. The devotees had to pass through barricades and checkpoints during entry to the Lions’ Gate and return from there.

The Besha of the Lords, which was to continue till 1 am as per the schedule by the administration, began at 4.40 pm. The Trinity exposed them to the devotees after completion of the decoration works by the servitors. The extension of the timings of the display of the attires was to ensure more and more visitors smoothly view the deities in the special event, which is organised once in a year in Puri, marking beauty and opulence.

Though the exact quantity of the gold used in the decoration was not disclosed, yet it could be near about 150 kg of ornaments consisting of gold, diamond and various jewels. Among the ornaments that the deities wore were hands, feet, crowns, peacocks, forehead, ear-rings and half square-shaped decorative necklaces. Besides, there were third-eye, conch, wheel, lotus and mace on hands. There were also designs of various flowers like Padma, Sevati, Agasti, Kadamba, Kante and Champa which symbolize that the Lords are fond of flowers.

In the past, the Trinity used to wear 208 kg ornaments of 138 designs. But, in recent years designs of less weight are used in the attire of the deities due to security reasons. The Besha took almost two hours to complete after the ornaments from Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) were taken to the chariots.  The designated servitors only participated in transportation of the ornaments from the treasure trove of the shrine.

Scriptures have it that the Suna Besha dates back to the time of

king Kapilendra Dev of 1460 AD.  As a great warrior, he brought with him a huge bounty of ornaments from south India by means of 16 carts to Puri after returning triumphant in a war. He later dedicated his entire bounties to the Jagannath Temple for decorations of the deities which is still prevalent today in the Jagannath Temple.