In a 1st, Jagannath ritual done sans devotees

For the first time in the history, devotees were not allowed to witness the Snana Purnima rituals of Lord Jagannath in Odisha’s Puri owing to the restrictions put in place to contain the spread of Covid-19.

To enable devotees to have a glimpse of the ritual, special arrangements were made by the Odisha government for live telecast of the event.

Snana Yatra or the holy bathing ceremony is considered as the prelude to the annual ratha yatra

Since the early hours, a string of rituals were undertaken at Puri Jagannath temple for the smooth conduct of Pahandi, the traditional procession of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.

The deities brought one by one by the temple’s Daitapati servitors in the “Dhadi Pahandi” to the “Snana Bedi” or bathing altar.

The servitors got the deities — Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Goddess Subhadra — ready by invoking them with an “Alati” and changing their clothes and performing purification rites called Abakasa Niti.

As per the tradition, were accorded a bath in 108 pitchers of aromatic water. After the bathing ritual was over, the deities appeared in mesmerizing Hati Besha or elephant look for devotees

“It was a grand spectacle for devotees as it is one of the beautiful and the foremost tradition associated with the presiding deities of Puri Jagannath temple especially the cycle of numerous festivals,” said Madhususdan Mishra, a Jagannath culture researcher.

The tradition of decking up the deities ‘Gajanana or Hati Besha’ after the ceremonial bath can be traced to the popular Hindu belief of invoking Lord Ganesh before any religious or auspicious event.