PURI: Over 15 lakh devotees thronged the pilgrim town to witness the majestic ‘Suna Besha’ of the Trinity on their respective chariots on Saturday evening. Overcast conditions with brief spells of rain made the ritual a pleasant affair for the visitors.
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Earlier, gold ornaments weighing around 200 kg were brought from the temple treasury to the chariots by servitors amid tight security at 3 pm.
It took almost two hours for the special servitors to decorate the idols of Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra atop the chariots.
Huge gold tiaras besides a number of special necklaces and garlands gave a spectacular look to the idols. Magnificent golden earrings and body armour was also used.
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The day began with a complex set of rituals like mangala alati, mailum, abakash and Surya puja being performed by the servitors. Later the deities were offered dry bhog (offerings).
As per the 1978 inventory, the treasury of the 12th-century shrine has 367 items of gold ornaments weighing around one quintal. Besides, there are 251 items of silver ornaments weighing around 14 quintals in the treasury.
The temple also has precious stones like diamond, emerald, ruby, zade and others of rare quality and size.
The Trinity would spend two more nights on their chariots. On Sunday, they would be offered ‘Adharpana’, a special drink.
On Monday Lord Jagannath would present Rasgollas to his consort Mahalaxmi to appease her. It is believed that Mahalaxmi was angry on being left out of the Trinity’s trip to their aunt’s place.
Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements were made with deployment of large number of police personnel to regulate vehicular traffic from Pipili. As many as 18 areas were designated for parking of vehicles.