Puri (SunstarTV Bureau): Amid the COVID pandemic, the years long most awaited sacred Deba Snana Purnima of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra begins inside the premises of Shrimandir on Thursday.
However, the devotees will not be allowed to witness the devotional ritual. Besides, only the servitors who have RTPCR negative report and have been issued the pass can participate in Snana Yatra.
In order to avoid any public congregation during the festival, section 144 of CrPC has been clamped in Puri from 10 pm on Wednesday. The prohibitory orders will remain in force till 2 pm of June 25.
As many as five ASPs, 23 DSPs, 35 platoons of police force and more than 150 police officers have been deployed in order to smoothen the organization of the holy festival and to maintain the security purposes.
Reportedly, the King of Puri Gajapati Dibya Singh Deo will not perform the famous ritual of Chhera Panhara in the Snana Mandap. His representative, Mudirasta, will execute the ritual on behalf of him.
At 1.55 am of June 24, the Pahandi ritual has been held and the three deities have been brought to the Snana Mandap (also said as Snana Bedi).
The famous Gaja besa (elephant attire) has been slated to take place between 11 am to 12 noon.
It is noteworthy that the Snana Yatra is an annual bathing festival of deities celebrated on the Purnima (full moon day) of the Hindu month of Jyeshtha.
On the eve of the auspicious occasion of Snana Yatra, the idols of the deities are brought out from the Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) to the Snana Bedi following the ritual of Pahandi.
The deities are bathed with 108 pots of ritually purified water drawn from the northern well of the temple to the accompaniment of religious incantations.
After the Snana Yatra rituals are performed, the Gods are traditionally believed to fall ill and are kept in Anasara Ghara.
During this period, three Pata Chitra paintings are displayed for devotees for darshan. It is traditionally believed that the ayurvedic medication (‘pnachan’) administered by the Raj Vaidya following which the Gods recover in a fortnight.
