PURI: After a gap of almost a decade, the majority of the rituals of ‘Snana Purnima’ of the presiding deities of Sri Jagannath temple here were conducted as per schedule on Thursday amid tight security in the presence of thousands of devotees.
The deities were brought down from ‘Ratnasimhasan’ and escorted out of the ‘Garbha Gruha’ (sanctum sanctorum) of Jagannath temple in a ‘pahandi’ procession to the ‘snana vedi’ (bathing altar) by the Daita servitors. It was followed by a number of nitees (daily chores) like ‘mangala arati,’ ‘mailaum’ and ‘abakash.’
Puri King Dibyasingha Deb arrived in time to sweep the Snana Mandap with a golden broom. As many as 108 pitchers of water blended with aromatic herbs were used by the Garabadu servitors to bathe the trinity. The deities were then adorned with elephant (Ganesh) masks for ‘Haati Vesha’. As per legend, Ganapati Bhatt from Maharashtra, an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha, once came to Puri and was disappointed at not finding any idol of the elephant god in the temple. Even as he was preparing to return, the trinity adorned themselves in ‘Haati Vesha’ leaving Ganapati in a state of trance.
As part of the ritual, instead of three regular ‘bhogs’ (offerings), the deities were offered a single ‘bhog’ comprising 39 items. Devotees will be able to witness the ‘Haati Vesha’ till late in the night after which the deities would be taken in ‘pahandi’ to ‘Anasar Ghar’ (sick room for deities in the temple complex) at Alarnath temple where they would remain under treatment by their physician for 14 days.
The deities will emerge from the sick room a day ahead of the Rath Yatra energised and invigorated in ‘Nabajouban darshan’.
As many as 45 platoons of police and other security personnel were deployed for the ritual while District Collector Arvind Agarwal and Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sarangi, along with temple chief administrator P K Mohapatra, kept a close watch on the proceedings.There was no violation of the temple’s strict guidelines during the rituals, said sources.
Servitors file police complaint
Puri: Mahasuar Nijog of Jagannath temple on Thursday filed a complaint with the Singhadwar police against the district collector and the former chief administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) for defaming the servitor community.
This comes in the wake of reported denial by SJTA chief administrator P K Mohapatra that any letter from the President of India’s office was received alleging misbehaviour by the servitors towards the First Lady during President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the temple on March 18.
Mahasuar Nijog president Damodar Mahasuar filed the complaint. The temple’s managing body had discussed the issue and passed a resolution in this regard. A section of media mentioned that a letter was received from the President’s secretariat in which it was alleged that the servitors misbehaved with the First Lady.
Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sarangi told mediapersons that the President’s secretariat, in a letter, had asked him to ensure that nobody enters the inner security cordon of the President. However, it was observed that a number of servitors tried to breach the inner cordon. The SP had written a letter to the temple administration to take steps to prevent such incidents in future in this regard.