A day after the spectacular golden attire (Suna Besha) of Lord Jagannath and his siblings- Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, a sweet drink called 'AdharaPana' will be offered to the Holy Trinity in Puri today.
However, due to the Covid-19 induced restrictions, the famous ritual of the deities will be performed sans devotees. People will have to watch the event from home through live telecast.
'Adhara Pana' is a famous ritual of offering 'Pana', a special drink prepared with milk, banana, cheese, aromatic spices and water. As per the age-old practice, the ritual is held atop three chariots of the deities-Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Devadalana.
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Raghab Das Mutt and Shree JagannathTemple Administration (SJTA) make arrangements for all the ingredients needed for preparation of the special drink.
The water used to prepare the drink is collected by Pania Apat servitors from a well on the premises of Chhauni mutt near the 'Singha Dwara' (Lion's Gate). It is then offered to the deities in their respective chariots in nine large cylindrical-shaped pitchers. The one meter tall pitchers are placed in a manner that they touch the lips of the three siblings.
After the drink is offered to the deities, servitors break the earthen pitchers in order to spill the drink over the chariots. It is believed that subsidiary deities (parswa deva devi) fitted in the outer parts of the chariots and evil spirits consume the holy drink to attain salvation.
After the AdharaPana rituals, 'NiladriBije', the return of the deities to Srimandir'sRatnaSinghasana, will be held tomorrow to mark the conclusion of the world famous Ratha Jatra festival.
“We thank all for their support on the successful completion of Ratha Jatra, Bahuda Jatra and Suna Besha. We are also hopeful that the same support will be extended on the occasion of Adhara Pana and Niladri Bije,” said SJTA Chief Administrator Krishan Kumar.
(Edited by Ramakant Biswas)