Over three lakh devotees witness ‘Suna Vesha’ at Sri Jagannath Temple, Puri
Puri, Nov 5 (UNI) Over three lakh devotees on Wednesday witnessed the Rajrajeswar Vesha, popularly known as Suna Vesh(golden attire) of the presiding deities of the Sri Jagannath Temple on Kartik Purnima.
From Tuesday midnight, temple priests performed the daily rituals for the deities, beginning with Mangal, Arati, Mailum, Tadaplagi, Abakash, Surya Puja, Rosa Homa, and offering Gopal Bhog.
Following the completion of these rituals, three special sets of servitors adorned the deities with golden ornaments, including limbs, feet, insignias, tiaras, and necklaces studded with precious gems.
The dressing process took nearly two hours, from 6:55 am to 8:30 am.
To accommodate a larger number of devotees for darshan, the temple administration skipped ‘Pahuda’, the deities’ sleeping hours. The month-long Kartik Brata concluded today on Purnima, the full moon day.
Thousands of Habishalis (devotees) camped along the Srimandir Parikrama corridor and Badadanda, listening to religious bhajans and discourses throughout Tuesday night.
Early this morning, they carried the holy basil tree to Mahodadhi, a five-kilometre stretch of beach from Swargdwar to Chakratirth, considered a sacred Teerth, to perform the concluding ceremony of the Kartik Brata.
Devotees took holy dips in the sea, offered prayers to the rising sun, floated tiny boats, and later visited the Sri Jagannath Temple to witness the Rajrajeswar Vesha of the Trinity.
Those unable to go to the sea took a holy bath in four other sacred ponds across the town.
The state government hosted around 2,600 devotees from across Odisha to observe the brata at government expense. They were accommodated in four different facilities, including Brundabati Nibas, a seven-story building capable of housing over 1,000 devotees.
These centres were equipped with all basic amenities to help devotees perform their religious rites.
Devotees were provided with breakfast and Mahaprasad once a day, transport from shelters to the temple, priests for guidance in rituals, evening religious discourses by scholars, healthcare and other assistance throughout the brata.
For the smooth conduct of the month-long rituals, 45 police platoons were deployed.
A barricade over one kilometre long was raised from Simhadwar to Bagala Dharmshala along Badadanda. Devotees were allowed to enter through Simhadwar and exit through the other three gates.
To ensure safety at the Sea Beach and other holy water bodies, over 300 lifeguards and two special fire service teams were deployed.
The arrangements were overseen by District Collector Dibyajyoti Parida, Superintendent of Police Pratik Singh, and Temple Chief Administrator Aravind Padhi.
