PURI, July 1: The titular king of Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb on Friday performed the ‘Chhera Pahanra’, a ritual of sweeping the chariots of Lord Jagannath and his divine siblings before the Ratha Jatra, emblematic of the belief that all are equal before the almighty. The ritual was performed before devotees got their turn to pull the chariots during the Ratha Jatra, the annual nine-day festival that was held in the presence of pilgrims for the first time after two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per tradition, the titular king, who was carried in a silver-plated palanquin to the Shree Jagannath Temple, offered prayers to the deity seated on the chariots, and then cleaned their platforms with a gold broom.
“The ritual has a clear social message that all are equal before the Lord,” said Rabinarayan Mishra, a researcher of the Jagannath cult. Another researcher Asit Mohanty said the ritual has been performed for centuries to convey a clear message to the society that there should be no discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or any such societal barriers.
Ratha Jatra, which marks the nine-day sojourn of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at the Gundichha Temple, is held every year on Dwitiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Ashadha, according to the Hindu almanac. (PTI)
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