PURI: The Shree Jagannath temple will remain open throughout the night on Sunday to facilitate darshan of the Trinity’s Laxmi Narayan Besha to lakhs of devotees on the fourth day of Panchuka Brata. Chief administrator Ranjan Kumar Das said the decision to keep Srimandir open the whole night on Sunday was taken as a large number of devotees have flocked to Puri to have darshan of Laxmi Narayan Besha of the deities.
Besides, more devotees are expected on the day of Kartika Purnima (Monday) to witness the Trinity’s Rajrajeswar Besha, also known as Suna Besha, atop the Ratna Simhasan. The rituals have been streamlined to complete the Suna Besha by 8 am on Monday, informed Das.
Puri SP K Vishal Singh said in view of the large gathering of devotees, another five platoons of police force have been deployed inside the temple. Besides, additional personnel have been deployed to regulate vehicular traffic in Puri town. An advisory will be issued on Sunday night for the public to park their vehicles in designated parking areas located at different parts of the town.
Earlier on the day, the temple door opened at 4.50 am and after purification, servitors performed Mangal Alati followed by Mailum, Abakash, Tadap Lagi, Rosahoma and Surya Puja. After Gopal Bhog was offered, the Laxmi Narayan Besha was completed at 9.20 am.
On the other hand, Sukhila Bhog (dry Mahaprasad) was distributed among inmates of the five habisyali centres on the day. Puri collector Samarth Verma went to Brundabati Nivas and distributed dry Mahaprasad packets among habisyalis lodged at the eight-storey building. Around 3,000 habisyalis were hosted by the administration to observe the month-long Kartika Brata this year.