The Jagannath Temple administration on Sunday released the schedule of Devsnan Purnima ritual of the deities on Monday. This is a major ritual before the annual Rath Yatra scheduled for July 6.
As per the schedule, the deities would be escorted to Snan Mandop (bathing altar) in the temple complex in Pahandi (ceremonial procession) early in the morning at about 4 am and the Pahandi would be completed by 6 am.
After installing the deities on the altar, a complex set of rituals like Mangalarati, Mailam and Abakash would be performed. Then, the deities would be dressed in bathing attires.
The bathing of the deities in 108 pitchers of aromatic water would begin by 9.30 am and completed by 12 noon. Thereafter, Chherapahnra would be conducted and the deities would be dressed in elephant attire for “Hati Vesha”.
The public darshan of the deities from behind the barricades would be allowed till late in the night, after which the deities would be taken to the sick room (Anasar) where they would recline to bed supposedly suffering from fever. During this fortnight, the temple Vaidya would treat the deities with herbal medicines and they would remain on fruit diet. The deities would appear for public darshan on the Nabajauban day, a day prior to the Rath Yatra.
On Saturday night, the Daita servitors entered into the temple and took charge of the deities from the regular priests. The Rath Yatra is conducted by the Daita.
As many as 49 platoons besides 63 police officers have been deployed for safety and security of pilgrims and the deities. One-way traffic along the Puri-Bhubaneswar NH-316 at Samjajpur has been enforced and the railway over-bridge has been sealed.