About three lakh devotees thronged the pilgrim city of Puri to witness the bathing ceremony of lord Jagannath, His elder brother Balabhadra, sister Devi Subhadra and lord Sudarshan on the Snan Mandap (bathing altar) followed by Haati Vesha on Friday.
This event heralded the annual grand Rath Yatra of the deities scheduled on June 25.
Humidity was very high and the sky was overcast. It was drizzling at times. It is an important ritual before the June 25 annual Rath Yatra.
The ceremonial Pahandi began by two hours behind the schedule at 6.23 am as Daita servitors escorted the lords from the Ratnasimhasan to the Snan Vedi in Dhadipahandi amidst playing of drums, cymbals, bugles, ghantas and chanting of Hari Bol and Jai Jagannath. The Pahandi was over by 9.30am.
The deities were placed on the Snan Vedi (bathing altar), a huge raised platform overlooking the grand road facing the east and located at the outer complex of the temple. 108 pitchers of water drawn from the “Sunakua” (golden well) blended with aromatic herbs, sandal wood paste, Keshar and Karpur were poured over the deities.
After the bathing ceremony was over, the lords were dressed in new attire. Thereafter, Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb came in a procession from his palace and performed the Chherapahanra (sweeping the floor of snanVedi) which was over by 4 pm.
At about 4.30 pm, a special set of servitors decked deities with elephant attire popularly called “Hati Vesha” presenting them to the devotees as the incarnation of lord Ganesha. The Vesha was completed by 5.20 pm.
After the darshan which continued till late night, the Vesha was put off and the Daita servitors escorted the deities into Anasar ghar (sick room) where the deities would recline in bed for a fortnight supposedly suffering from fever. The sick deities would be treated by the temple Vaidya and remain on fruit diet.
Public darshan of the deities was closed from Friday. The deities would appear for public darshan on the auspicious day of Nabajouban darshan, which precedes the Rath Yatra.
During Anasar fortnight of the deities, the devotees generally rush to the Alarnath temple at Brahmagiri, 23 km away from Puri. A popular belief goes that during these days, lord Jagannath manifests in the Alarnath. A special delicacy “Kheer” is offered to the Alarnath.
About 45 platoons of armed police and scores of police officers of various ranks were deployed to ensure safe and smooth conduct of the ritual. Six CCTV cameras were installed at various places in the temple complex to monitor the crowd movement.