Over six lakh devotees including Odisha CM witness Snana Purnima of Trinity

PURI: Over six lakh devotees including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi turned up to witness the Trinity’s Snana Purnima ritual in Shree Jagannath Temple here on Monday.

Early in the morning, the Daita servitors escorted the Trinity from the Ratna Sinhgasan to the Snana Bedi in a ceremonial Pahandi procession. The Pahandi procession began after the Mangalarpan concluded at 7.25 am.

After the deities were seated on the Snana Bedi, the customary rituals including Mangal Arati, Mailum, Tadap Lagi and Abakash were performed. The servitors then dressed the deities in the special bathing attire.

At around 1.30 pm, the Trinityceremonially bathed with 108 pitchers of aromatic, sanctified water. Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb arrived in a ceremonial procession from his palace and performed the traditional Chhera Pahanra ritual on the Snana Bedi before offering prayers. The ritual commenced at 3.35 pm and concluded at 4.40 pm.

Following the bathing ceremony, three teams of dressers adorned the deities in the Hati Besha. The elaborate elephant-face masks, crafted from thermocol, were provided by the Raghab Das and Gopaljew mutts. It took nearly an hour to complete the attire. The Hati Besha darshan continued till late in After the darshan ended in the night, the deities were escorted to the Anasara Ghar where they will be in quarantine for a fortnight, symbolically recovering from fever following the ceremonial bath.

Apart from CM Majhi, Puri MP Sambit Patra, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan also visited Puri to witness the ritual. The chief minister also offered prayers to the Trinity at the Snana Bedi.

DGP YB Khurania, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration Arabinda Elaborate security arrangements were put in place for the smooth conduct of the ritual. At least 79 platoons of police force along with anti-terrorist squad units, intelligence personnel and quick response teams were deployed. More than 250 AI-powered CCTV cameras were installed in and around the temple and along the Bada Danda to monitor the event.

Thousands of devotees gathered at Haribaldev Jew temple in Baripada and the Jagannath temple in Koraput to celebrate Snana Purnima on Monday. Devotees from across Mayurbhanj district along with Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and neighbouringBengal and Jharkhand thronged the Grand Road near Haribaldev Jew shrine, also known as Dwitiya Srikhetra, to witness the Snana Yatra.

Baripada SDPO Pravat Mallik said six platoons of police force were deployed around the temple and key junctions in the town to ensure peaceful conduct of the festival. Similarly, a large number of devotees gathered at the Jagannath temple in Koraput, also called Sabara Srikhetra, to witness the grand Deba Snana Purnima celebrations. The Trinity was ceremonially brought out of the sanctum sanctorum in a colourful procession to the Snana Mandap. Temple priests performed the customary rituals before bathing