Varanasi: Lord Jagannath will be on a fortnight-long ‘sick leave’ from Friday, as he ‘fell ill’ after an elaborate bath on the occasion of Jyestha Purnima on Thursday.
The doors of the Jagannath Temple in Assi locality will remain closed for devotees during this period.
According to traditions, before the beginning of the famous three-day Rathyatra festival, Lord Jagannath takes a bath on Jyestha Purnima that makes him fall ill, and thus unfit to give ‘darshan’ to his devotees.
During the sickness period, he is served herbal hot food particularly ‘kadha’ made of ‘parwal’ and Tulsi, which is believed would heal the lord of fortnight-long illness, during which viewing and worshipping is banned for devotees.
After recovering from illness, the Lord gives ‘darshan’ to his devotees and also makes a visit of the city with his siblings — elder brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra — on a chariot marking the beginning of the Rathyatra festival.
A day before the beginning of the procession, devotees throng Jagannath temple to offer prayer and catch a glimpse of the idols of the deities.
These idols are placed in decorated palanquins to begin the procession from the temple in the evening.
The procession passing through various localities reaches Rathyatra, the fair area, where the idols are placed at Pt Beniram Bagh for a night stay.
A special puja and aarti of the ‘rath’ (wooden chariot) are performed at Rathyatra Crossing.
Later, devotees pull the cart to Mahmoorganj Road, where it is placed for three days.
The next day the idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings are placed on the chariot after a special puja in the early morning to mark the start of Rath Yatra festival.
Like last year, this year too, the city will miss the centuries-old Rathyatra Mela, which is a replica of the famous Rathyatra festival of Puri, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Rathyatra Mela was started in Varanasi in 1802, and since the city had been celebrating the festival with all the gaiety and enthusiasm,” said trustee of Sri Jagannath Mandir Trust, Deepak Shapuri, adding that the festivity has been cancelled in view of corona pandemic.
However, the traditional religious rituals will be performed by the priest only at the temple, he said.