Hundreds of devotees, defying incessant rains, gathered in this pilgrim city to witness the annual Debasnan Purnima rituals of Shree Jagannath, Shree Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.
A special set of rituals for the deities were observed as the day coincided with a partial lunar eclipse this time.
The deities were escorted out of their sanctum sanctorum in a ceremonial Pahandi (procession) to the Snan Vedi (bathing altar) on the outer temple complex facing the east, where the deities were bathed with 108 pitchers of aromatic water by the temple servitors. A special set of servitors drew water from the “golden well” of the temple called Sital Kupa.
Thereafter, Gajapati King Dibyasingh Deb performed the Chherapahanra (sweeping with a golden broom) around the deities on the bathing altar. Up to this phase, the devotees were allowed a close Darshan of the deities atop the bathing altar in a queue.
Following this, the deities were dressed in ‘elephant attire’, called Haati Vesh, reflecting them as the incarnations of lord Ganesha. The devotees then had Darshan from outside the temple as the raised altar gave the full view of the deities.
At night, the deities were taken to a solitary place in temple called Anasar Ghar (room for the sick) where they would recline to bed for 15 days supposedly suffering from fever. During this period, the temple Vaidya would treat them with herbal medicines. Public Darshan of the deities would be stopped for fortnight and would resume a day prior to the Rath Yatra. This is known as Nabayouvan Darshan.