The Chhera Pahanra ritual by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb has been an integral part of the Snan Yatra of Lord Jagannath and His siblings in Puri. However, there was an exception in this year’s Snan Yatra as the Gajapati Maharaja didn’t come to the Snan Mandap on Friday.
Instead, his Mudiratha performed the ritual at the Snan Mandap. Though there was confusion initially over the Maharaja’s absence, he later cleared the air.
“I decided to stay indoors in compliance with Government’s Covid-19 guidelines, which restrict outdoor movement of persons above 65 years of age. As per tradition, Mudiratha can perform all rituals of Gajapati Maharaja in the latter’s absence,” he said.
“This is the second time I couldn’t perform the ritual on Snan Yatra. Earlier in 1976, I was unable to conduct it as I was in the US for my LLM course,” he added.