PURI: The snan purnima (bathing ceremony) of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra was observed on Friday amid tight security and following the precautionary norms for COVID-19. This is a major ritual prior to the annual Rath Yatra scheduled on June 23.
As per the ritual schedule set by the temple administration, the Pahandi of the Trinity had begun by 1.25 am after performing of Mangalarpan. Earlier, on Thursday night a set of servitors called duasia had fixed Charamar (ladder) to the Ratnasimhasan. As per tradition, Daita servitors at 1.40 am began Pahandi of deities in a queue system from the sanctum sanctorum to the snan bedi -- the bathing altar. Pahandi was completed by 3.10 am.
The snan bedi is a huge raised platform situated on the eastern side of the temple complex. Devotees on normal occasions witness the ritual from Badadanda near Simhadwar. However, this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ritual was observed maintaining social and physical distancing norms and no devotee was allowed on the Badadanda.
On the bathing altar, the daily chores of the deities began with Mangal arati, Mailum, Tadap laagi, Surya and Dwarpal puja. Garabadu servitors placed 108 pitchers of aromatic water for use in the bath. Priests consecrated the water pitchers and they were used for the bath. 35 pots of water were used for bathing of Lord Jagannath, 33 for Balabhadra, 22 for Subhadra and 18 for Sudarshan. After the bath, again Mailum and Sarbang nitees were performed and the Trinity were dressed in new cloths.
Chhera pahanra was performed by Mudirasta, a minor age servitor who represents the Gajapati king whenever the King could not perform the service. For that, a royal ring was given to him to perform the seva in the absence of Gajapati. Chhera pahanra began at 10.40am and was completed by 11.10am.
It took about forty minutes for three sets of Simhari (Divine dressers) servitors to fix the elephant attire to the deities. These dresses were prepared from traditional decorative materials and were provided by Raghab Das and Gopal Tirth muttas.
In the evening at 5 pm the Daita servitors would escort the Trinity in Pahandi to the Anasarghar (sick room) where the deities would remain for fifteen days and appear in a new youthful vigour called Nabajouban besha or Netrautshav a day prior to the Rath Yatra.
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place to prevent devotees coming to Badadanda. 37 platoons of police personnel along with 150 officers were deployed. All five entry points to city were sealed while section 144 of the IPC was clamped around the temple including a portion of Badadanda from Marichikot to Kakudikhai besides on every road leading to the temple from 10 pm on Thursday night and will continue till Saturday morning. CCTV cameras were installed at many places to monitor the situation. Nine police QAT mobile teams were pressed into service.
A high makeshift platform was raised in front of the temple to facilitate camera operations by DD to provide satellite signals to private TV channels for live telecast of the ritual. Dr Krishan Kumar, the chief administrator of Sri Jagannath temple, district collector Balwant Singh and DIG of police Asish Singh were present. The ritual passed off peacefully.
Two important personalities absent
Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb who was to perform Chhera pahanra remained absent as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. He told media that since he is over 65 years and had travelled abroad and was in self-quarantine after return, he preferred not to participate.
Swamy Nischalanafa Saraswati, the Sankaracharya of Gobardhan peeth who is guiding the temple administration regarding observance of rituals amidst COVID-19 restrictions, was also advised not to attend the ritual as he is a septuagenarian. Earlier, the temple chief administrator Dr Krishan Kumar, collector Balwant Singh along with temple body members went to the mutt and invited him to have darshan of the Trinity during the snan purnima ritual.