Puri, June 14: A large crowd today witnessed the ‘snan yatra’ of the deities of the Sri Jagannath Temple here, an important ritual in the run up to the ‘rath yatra’ next month. Amidst the noise of clanging cymbals and religious chanting, the three deities---Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra--- were ceremonially brought to the huge ‘snan mandap’ by the 'sevayats'. The deities were swayed to and fro as they were brought out of the shrine, a practice known as ‘pahandi’ in the temple parlance.
The servitors poured 108 pitchers of water drawn from the temple well on the deities before they were decorated for the ‘hati besa’ (elephant attire). The deities were then taken to the ‘anabasar ghar’ where they would be kept in seclusion for a fortnight when none except the temple ‘baidya’ would be allowed to enter the chamber. The deities are supposed to fall sick after the long bath and would be treated by the ‘baidya’.
They would come into public view again just before the ‘rath yatra’. Bureau Report