Puri: The Master of the Universe, Lord Jagannath of Puri and his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra have fever from the divine bath on the occasion of Snan Purnima or Deva Snan Yatra yesterday. The trinity instead of the sanctorum has retired to what is known as ‘Anasara’ for the next fifteen days for full recovery from the fever.
During this period, they will undergo treatment by the Raj Vaidya or the Royal physician with a variety of herbs. They will be given fruit and water with the herbs. The temple will remain closed during this period and the deities will be painted with fresh colour. Devotees can have darshan of Lord Alarnath, about 20 kms away from Puri.
On the sixteenth day, the day of ‘Netrotsava’, just a day before Rath Yatra, the deities will give darshan to the devotees in freshly-painted ‘Nava Jaubana Besha’. After this, devotees will be able to have darshan of the deities.
Thousands of ardent devotees gathered at the temple premises yesterday morning to view the ceremony which marks the beginning of the Rath Yatra (Chariot festival).
The trinity were bathed with 108 pots of sanctified water drawn from the golden well in the temple premises to which aromatic herbs, sandalwood and camphor were added. After the bathing, the deities were adorned in Hati Besha or the elephant attire symbolising divinity and majesty. Coinciding with the quarantine of the deities in Anasara, the atmospheric temperature in Odisha also goes up with excess humidity. Popular belief is that with Lord’s fever, the people also experience sweltering heat.
Around six lakh people from all parts of the world descended at Puri to participate in the Snan Yatra festival.