Puri, Jun 26 (PTI) A day before the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, thousands of devotees on Thursday thronged Odisha鈥檚 Puri to witness the reappearance of sibling deities at the 12th-century shrine here.
They reached the 鈥楽ingha Dwar鈥 (Lion鈥檚 Gate) of the temple much before the sun rose to have a 鈥楴abajouban darshan鈥 (youthful appearance) of the Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath on the 鈥楻atna Bedi鈥 (sacred platform in sanctum sanctorum).
The deities appear before the devotees after a fortnight.
The public 鈥榙arshan鈥 of the sibling deities was stopped after bathing rituals on June 11.
鈥淚t is believed that the deities do not appear before devotees as they fall ill after the bathing rituals. They remain in quarantine at 鈥楢nasar Ghar鈥 (isolation room) for a fortnight before Rath Yatra,鈥 said Bhaskar Mishra, a researcher in the Jagannath culture.
According to a Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) official, the temple opened for devotees for 鈥楴abajouban Darsan鈥 from 8 am to 10.30 am.
On the 鈥楴abajouban Besha鈥, the sibling deities wear a special youthful dress, and the ritual is held to celebrate the rejuvenation of Lord Jagannath. The day is also referred to as 鈥淣etra Ustav鈥 (eye-opening festival) when the eyes of the idols are painted.
Designated servitors perform this ritual, which is a secret affair in the temple, Mishra said.
鈥淭he devotees were first allowed to go inside the temple for a 鈥榩armanik鈥 (paid) darshan, which was held between 8 am and 9 am, and the general public darshan was conducted between 9 am to 10.30 am,鈥 the SJTA official said, adding that later the doors were closed for the day.
SJTA chief administration Arabinda Padhee said, 鈥淭he 鈥楴abajouban Darsan鈥 has been completed smoothly with the support of all the servitors. We hope that the Rath Yatra will go smoothly.鈥 During the day, the three chariots would be parked in front of the shrine鈥檚 main gate.
鈥淭hey will be pulled from Rath Khada (chariot yards) in the afternoon. The rituals of parking the chariots will be performed,鈥 the SJTA official said.
The construction of three wooden chariots- 鈥楾aladwaja鈥 (Lord Balabhadra鈥檚 chariot), 鈥楧ebadalan鈥 of Devi Subhadra and 鈥楴andighosh鈥 of Lord Jagannath has been completed and is ready to roll on the Grand Road on June 27.
On the occasion of the Rath Yatra, a massive deployment of 10,000 security personnel, comprising those in the Odisha Police and jawans of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), has been made.
For the first time, commandos of the National Security Guards (NSG) have also been deployed for the festival.
鈥淣SG personnel will keep a watch on the festival from rooftops while around 275 AI-enabled cameras are placed at strategic positions in Puri town for the mega event,鈥 Odisha DGP Y B Khurania said, adding that special plans are chalked out for crowd management, traffic control, health services and other amenities.
Adequate security arrangements have also been made in and around the Sri Gundicha temple, the place where the chariots with deities on board will be taken and parked for a week, the DGP said.
Personnel of Odisha marine police, Coast Guard and Indian Navy have also been deployed to ensure coastal security. PTI AAM AAM BDC