PURI: Devotees have started to make a beeline for the famous Alarnath temple at Brahmagiri, 23 km away from Puri, after the Trinity of Jagannath temple fell sick and retired to ‘Anasara Ghara’ on Monday.
On the occasion of Snana Purnima, the Trinity - Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra - was given a ceremonial bath following which the siblings fell sick and are under the care of the Raja Vaidya (physician) for 15 days as per the traditions and rituals.
During this period, hundreds of devotees rush to Brahmagiri to worship Alarnath as Lord Jagannath.
As per the belief, Lord Jagannath manifests in the form of Lord Alarnath for 15 days during ‘Anasara’ of the deities after Snana Purnima and His darshan brings some fortune and well being.
The small temple became a place of pilgrimage during ‘Anasar’ of the Trinity as Sri Chaitanya Dev, the founder of Krishna cult, elaborately mentioned in his writings that he visualised manifestation of Lord Jagannath in Alarnath. Sri Chaitanya Dev in 1610 AD along with his followers camped there for years worshipping the deity.
Besides the darshan of Alarnath Dev, distribution of the ‘kheer bhog’, which is prepared with buffalo milk and blended with other ingredients, and cooked ‘prasad’ at the temple, attracts scores of pilgrims.
Every day, over 10,000 litres of milk is used to prepare ‘kheer’ for offering to the Lord.
Meanwhile, adequate arrangements have been made at Alarnath to ensure smooth ‘darshan’ of the deity during the 15-day period by the district administration.
Heavy police deployment has also been made at the temple for the purpose.
Arrangements have been made to regulate the movement of devotees and vehicles, drinking water, rest sheds, toilets and parking of vehicles.