Tight security for Snana Purnima in Puri

By Rajkumar MohantyPuri, May 30: Snana Purnima, a major ritual prelude to the annual Rath Yatra, would be observed in this holy town of Odisha on June 2 amid tight security.A five layer security cover would be thrown in and around the temple including the Bada Danda with deployment of 67 seven platoons of police personnel besides four hundred officers of various ranks to ensure safety of the pilgrims and smooth conduct of the ritual of Lord Jagannath and his siblings.The administration is expecting huge turnout of devotees on the day to witness the last public darshan of the present deities as they would be replaced by new idols on June 15 midnight during the Anasar and the new deities would participate in the Rath Yatra scheduled to be held on July 18.Special emphasis has been given of the management of pilgrim traffic by enforcing one-way-traffic along the Bhubaneswr-Puri route.Two senior police officers would be placed in charge of the inner temple and at Simhadwar to marshal police personnel to regulate the pilgrim movement.As per the temple schedule the deities would be escorted in ceremonial Pahandi procession by Daita servitors to the Snana Mandap, a huge raised altar in the temple complex facing the Bada Danda.The trinity would be accorded 108 pitchers of aromatic water bath by the Pujapanda servitors.The water drawn from a special well called “Sunakua” inside the temple complex by the Garabadu servitors would be used.After observance a complex set of nitees (rituals) the deities would dressed in special attires looking like Lord Ganesha popularly called Haati Vesha.The Vesha would be visible to the devotees from Bada Danda near the lion’s gate area outside the temple.The Vesha would start from afternoon and continue till night.During Sahan Mela (free public darshan) the devotees would be allowed to go to the bathing altar to offer prayers.No devotee would be allowed to touch the deities.Late in the evening the Vesha would be undone.In the late night the Daita servitors would escort the deities in Pahandi procession to the Anasar Ghar (sick room) where the deities would recline to bed supposedly suffering from fever for a period of about 45 days.During this period the temple physician would treat the sick deities with herbal medicine and keeps them on dry and fruit diet.On the June 15 midnight the servitors would put the Brahma in new idols and the new ones would replace the old.The old idols would be buried in the Koili Baikuntha of the temple.The new idols would appear for public darshan two days prior to the annual Rath Yatra scheduled for July 18.However, the administration has resolved not to allow the devotees for darshan of the Nabayouban Vesha of the new deities to avoid stampede.