PURI: Servitors of Sri Jagannath Temple, as per tradition, on Sunday went in a procession to the palace of Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb to apprise him of the deities recovering from sickness.
The Trinity were taken to Anasara Ghar (the sick room inside the temple) as they fell ill after taking bath on Snana Purnima. The deities were treated by the temple Vaidya (physician) for almost a fortnight and kept on a diet of fruits and dry food.
The Trinity would appear before the devotees with renewed vigour on Tuesday as part of an aptly named ritual called ‘Nabajouban darshan’.
The ‘Netrautsav’ ritual will be observed the next day. It will be followed by Trinity’s journey on three chariots to their aunt’s house Gundicha temple.
With the start of the Rath Yatra rituals, the district administration has geared up to ensure all arrangements are in place for the world famous festival.
The 3 km Badadanda, the stretch of road leading to the 12th-century shrine, is ready for the chariots and the huge crowd that is expected to converge here on the day of the car festival.
Several shops and buildings on the stretch of road had suffered immense damage due to cyclone Fani that hit the coastal town last month.
Additional DGP Sanjeev Panda, IGP S Priyadarshi and Puri SP Umashankar Dash have been assigned the responsibility of maintaining law and order during the festival and supervising to 155 platoons of police personnel, whose roles and duties have been clearly defined.
Priyadarshi said 220 CCTV cameras have been installed on the Badadanda for the security of devotees.
He said an integrated control room has been set up at the Town police station for coordination among officials.
Dash said surveillance in the air and sea will be done by Indian Coast Guard during the festival. Besides, Rapid Action Force personnel and bomb detection and disposal units will be pressed into service.
He said the town has been divided into five security zones for maintenance of law and order and regulation of traffic during the festival.
On the day, DGP Dr RP Sharma briefed officers on ways to deal with the crowd and also provided tips for smooth conduct of the festival and safety of pilgrims.