Snana Jatra or the holy bathing ceremony of the sibling deities - Lord Balabhadra, Mahaprabhu Jagannath and Devi Subhadra - is performed at Puri Srimandir every year on Jyeshtha Purnima, i.e., on the full moon day of the month of 'Jyeshtha (May-June). Today, on this pious occasion, the Holy Trinity and Chakradhar Sudarsan took a ceremonial holy bath with 108 pitchers of sacred water and were later adorned in Gajanana Besha. All the rituals were carried out at the Snana Mandap. The Snana Yatra culminates after the Lords are taken to the 'Anasara Ghara' on Pahandi.
By: Devbrat Patnaik
Last updated: 24 Jun 2021, 08:58 PM IST
First glimpses of the Holy Trinity after they were brought out from the Ratnabedi to the Snana Bedi in a traditional procession called Dhadi pahandi.
Tadapa Lagi of Mahaprabhu
Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra placed on Snana Mandap for the auspicious bathing rituals on the occasion of Deba Snana Purnima.
Sandalwood paste, camphor, Saffron and 'Chua' are mixed with the holy water stored from the golden well near Devi Shitala Temple. Then Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Sudarsan are bathed with 35, 33, 22 and 18 pitchers of water respectively.
Snana Jatra is held a fortnight before Ratha Jatra, on the full moon day of lunar month.
On Snana Purnima, the sibling deities after the ceremonial bath at the ‘Snana Bedi’ (the bathing platform), are dressed like ‘Gajanana’ which is locally known as ‘Hati Besha’. Various materials like solo (pith), bamboo, cane, cotton and flowers are used to odorn the deities. The besha materials are supplied by Raghava Das mutt and Gopalatirtha mutt.