Snana Purnima observed with bathing of deities

Rajkumar MohantyPuri: The bathing of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra was observed here on Friday on the occasion of Snana Purnima as a major ritual prelude to the annual Rath Yatra that was scheduled to be held on June 29.The ritual was delayed by four hours.At 7 am the Daita servitors escorted Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, Sudarshan and Madanmohan out of the sanctum sanctorum in Pahandi amidst music concert of drums, cymbals, bugles and ghantas and chanting of Hari Bol and Jai Jagannath and placed them on the bathing altar (Snana Bedi), a huge raised stone platform overlooking the Grand Road facing the east located at the outer complex of the temple.A total of 108 pitchers of water drawn from the golden well and blended with aromatic herbs and sandal wood were used for bathing of the deities.Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb came in a procession from his palace in a decorated palanquin to the temple and performed Chherapahanra at the Snana Bedi.The ritual was completed by 4.45 pm.A special set of servitors decked deities with special elephant outfits called Hati Vesha presenting them as the incarnation of Lord Ganesha.The Vesha was completed by 5.20 pm.After offering of Dhupa (bhog) Sahana Mela (free public darshan) was allowed and the same was to continue till 11 pm.Thousands of devotees braved the scorching heat of the Sun and witnessed the ritual.The deities would be taken to a solitary place in the temple called Anasar Ghar (room for the sick) where the deities would recline to bed for 15 days supposedly suffering from fever.During this fortnight Vaidya (temple physician) would treat them with herbal medicines and were to live on fruit diets. Public darshan of the deities will remain closed for this fortnight.