PURI, July 19 : Lord Jagannath, his siblings elder brother Balabhadra, and devi Subhadra, the presiding deities of Sri Jagannath temple, were escorted into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple from their respective chariot in Goti Pahandi conducted by Daita servitors on Friday night.
The homecoming of the trinity, popularly called Niladri Bije will continue till midnight as the Pahandi has been delayed by about five hours. The temple schedule for Pahandi was fixed for 4 PM on Friday but it began about 8.30 PM.
Temple sources said by midnight deities Lord Jagannath, his siblings elder brother Balabhadra, and devi Subhadra will be escorted into the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple.
After staying nine days in Gundicha mandir, Trinity began a return journey, called Bahuda Yatra on July 15 and reached the Sri Jagannath temple main gate on the same day late in the evening.
They stayed on their respective chariot parked in front of Simhadwar for observance of important rituals like Suna Vesha followed by Adharpana on the next day.
The deities are escorted to the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Mandir in Pahandi after offering Rassogolla bhog.
Priests in the morning performed daily chores of the deities like Mangala Arati at 6.55 AM, Abakash, Tadaplagi, Mailum, Rosahoma, Surya Puja, and offered Gopal Bhog at about 9.50 AM .
The Sandhya Dhupa was offered at about 4.25 PM and preparation for Pahandi began with the fixing of ladders (chara-mara) onto the chariots and to the Ratnasimhasan in the Garbhagriha of the temple.
Daita servitors conducted the Pahandi procession at about 7 PM amidst traditional temple musicians playing cymbals, trumpets, ghantas, drums, mridanga, flute, and bugles to conventional musical notes.
At the same time, Gotipua and Odissi dancers led the procession.
Accompanying deities Madan Mohan and Ramakrishna were first taken into the temple followed by Sudarshan, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, and in the end lord Jagannath was escorted in.
Thousands of devotees witnessed the ceremonial Pahandi procession.
A two-layer security cordon was put around the deities during Pahandi to prevent any unauthorised person from touching the deities.
A traditional play was enacted between the servitors of lord Jagannath and his consort Mahalaxmi.
By the order of Mahalaxmi the temple gate was closed to prevent entry of lord Jagannath for not taking Mahalaxmi on the nine-day pleasure trip to Sri Gundicha temple.
While elder lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were allowed to enter the temple, the door was closed for Lord Jagannath.
Lord Jagannath then offers Rasgullas to Mahalaxmi to pacify her anger. After a long persuasion, the temple gate opened for the lord.
Taking a clue from the lord Jagannath and Mahalaxmi, hundreds of devotees offered Rosgulla bhog to deities on chariots before Pahandi and distributed it among the devotees present.
This is the only occasion when rasgulla is offered to the deities.
The daily chores would resume beginning with Mahasnan (the grand bath) followed by a fresh set of rituals concluding with Badasinghar (night dress) and Pahuda (sleeping) which would be observed tonight.
Devotees would get Mahaprasad known as “Nilachal abhada” on July 20. (UNI)
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