Odishatv Bureau

Puri: Setting in motion the final countdown to the famous ‘Rath Yatra’ (car festival) of Lord Jagannath, the auspicious Deva  Snana Purnima or holy bathing ritual of Lord Jagannath was held in the wee hours on Wednesday.

To commemorate the appearance day of Lord Jagannath, a special bath of the trinity at Jagannath temple here takes place on Purnima or full moon day of Jyestha month. According to Skanda Purana, it is on this day King Indradyumna installed the wooden deities of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra in the 12th century temple.

On this day, the sacred bathing ceremony of Lord Jagannatha is performed with hundred and eight pitcher of water.  The sacred water brought from the well near Sitala Temple in the vicinity of Jagannatha temple.

Late in Tuesday night, the wooden images of the trinity were ceremonially brought out from the sanctum sanctorum in a procession known as Pahandi to the bathing pandal within the precinct of the temple.

Prior to the bathing ritual, the Pahandi began at 1.55 A.M, keeping in view the total lunar eclipse  today which had cast doubts over the conduct of the rituals. After referring to almanac and other pundits at mukti mandap, the schedule was chalked out.

Today, millions of devotees thronged the pilgrim city to have a glimpse of Lord Jagannath’s Gajanan manifestation.

Expecting a mad rush of devotees to witness this spectacular ceremony, the district administration has stepped up security apparatus to avoid any untoward incident for which 42 platoons of police force, a bomb disposal squad and personnel from Rapid Action Force were put in place. 

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