PURI: Devotees in large numbers witnessed the Nabajauban Besha of Lord Jagannath, His elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra in the ‘anasara pindi’ (sick room) on Friday.After the daily ‘nitis’ like Mangal Arati, Mailum and Abakash, the sick room was opened at 7 am, an hour earlier than schedule, for ‘darshan’. Servitors removed the ‘Dasabatar Pattachitra from the sick room and thereafter, Netrotshav Bandapana was performed by Daitapatis followed by Rosahoma, Yatrangi Mahasnan, Mailum, Surya Puja and Dwarpal Puja. The deities were offered Gopalballav bhog in breakfast and by 4 pm, Kotha bhog (cooked food) was offered.
Earlier on Thursday, Dattamahapatra, a special set of servitors, painted the faces of the Trinity using saffron, musk and camphor in a ritual called ‘Banak Laagi’. It is believed that the faces of the deities get mutilated and they fall ill after bathing with 108 pitchers of aromatic water during Snana Purnima.
At 4 pm, the ‘ajnamallayas’ were issued by the three deities to their respective servitors, who carried these floral garlands in a procession to the chariot construction yard on Grand Road and handed them over to three chief carpenters of the three majestic chariots.
Soon after this ritual, the chariots were pulled towards the main temple and parked in front of the Lions Gate. Pulling was completed amid tight security by 5 pm.Late in the night, Badasimhar Besha was performed where the Daita servitors prepared the deities for the Rath Yatra and Pahanadi.Sri Jagannath Temple Chief Administrator P K Mohapatra and District Magistrate Arabind Agarwal besides, IGP Soumendra Priyadarshi are overseeing the festival proceedings.