JAMSHEDPUR: The festive enthusiasts on Thursday observed shahi snan (panchamrit bath) of lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and devi Subhadra in all the Jagannath temples across the two adjoining towns of Jamshedpur and Seraikela.
Keeping the current Covid-induced restrictions in mind, the temple management made sure that only a limited number of servitors and volunteers took part in the rituals.
The snan purnima rituals, which is part of shahni snan, were organised at Beldih Naga temple in Bistupur, Gandhi Ashram Jagannath temple in Sakchi, Rath Gali Jagannath temple in Jugsalai, Utkal Association in Golmuri, Namda Basti Kali temple, Jagannath temple in Khasmahal, among others.
Following the shahi snan, the deities were adorned with new clothes and a variety of delicious food items were offered to them.
Special kirtans were held at the temples as part of the prayers offered to the deities.
“After mahasnan, lord Jagannath will take rest for 15 days and will reappear during Rath Yatra,” Seraikela Jagannath temple’s priest Brahmanand Mahapatra said.
With shahi snan, the Jagannath Rath Yatra festival has commenced but organizers are not sure whether the government will allow them to the sacred and grand ritual of pulling the chariot, scheduled to take place two weeks later.
“We are waiting for the government’s directive and will organise the Rath Yatra, accordingly,” Kharsawan’s circle officer Mukesh Machua said.
Machua is the head of sarkari puja committee (puja organising committee) of Kharsawan Jagannath temple.
The government bears the expense of the rituals performed at the temple here, a tradition in practise since several decades.
Devotees are hoping that the government gives the green signal for taking out the chariot and allowing celebrations to take place in a restricted manner.
“The usual enthusiasm associated with rath yatra will be missing if the government doesn’t allow us to take out the chariot on the streets and devotees are not allowed to participate in the ceremony for the second consecutive year,” gold merchant Abhinav Devchand said.
Meanwhile, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskon)-run Jagannath temple at Cable Town in Golmuri has announced that the netra utsav and rath yatra would be organised without the fanfare.
“Unlike panchamrit snan, the other two components of the festival — netra utsav and rath yatra — will be observed according to the safety norms issued by the government,” Iskon’s Jagannath temple functionary Prabhu Das said.
In Ranchi too, ceremonial proceedings marked the day at the famous Jagannath temple in Dhurwa.
A priest said, “All the rituals were held as per the laid out customs of the puja in strict accordance with safety norms and visitors were debarred from entering.
As far as the rath yatra is concerned, it is unlikely to happen this year too due to Covid.”