Lakhs witness Lord Jagannath’s ‘golden attire’ ritual in Puri

Puri: Lakhs of devotees on Wednesday witnessed Lord Jagannath’s “Suna Besha” ritual in which the idol, seated on a chariot in Puri, was adorned with gold ornaments embedded with precious stones.

The idols of his siblings - Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra – were also decorated by servitors with golden jewellery and attires atop their chariots in front of the ‘Singha Dwar’ (Lion’s Gate) of the famous 12th-century temple.

Sources said that the sibling deities wear gold jewellery weighing nearly 208 kg on this occasion.

The embellishment of the idols known as “Suna Besha” (golden attire) is held two days after the sibling deities return to Shree Jagannath Temple following their nine-day stay at the Gundicha Temple, considered their birthplace.

“The devotees can have darshan of the deities till 11 pm on Wednesday night,” Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee told reporters.

Puri district Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said: “We have made arrangements for the smooth darshan for 15 lakh devotees. The golden attires of the deities would be removed at about 11 pm. The people can have a glimpse of the trinity between 5 pm to 11 pm.” The ornaments used in the Suna Besha are stored in the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhadar (treasury) and brought to the chariots escorted by armed security personnel, temple officials and priests.

The gold ornaments used in this ritual included hands, feet, third eyes, crowns, peacock feathers, earrings, necklaces, lotus and conch.