Debasnan Purnima

Occasion for self purification

Today is holy ‘Deba Snana Purnima.This Deba Snana Purnima is a festival of bathing celebrated on the full moon day (Purnami) of the month of ‘Jyeshtha’ in Hindu calendar. It is an important festival of the Jagannath Cult. This is the first occasion in the year as per the Hindu calendar, when the deities, Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Maa Subhadra, Sudarshan, and Madan Mohan are brought out from the Bada Deula (Jagannath Temple) and taken in a procession to the Snana Bedi. There, they are ceremonially bathed and decorated for a public audience with the devotees.It is a belief among devotees of Lord Jagannath that if they make a pilgrimage to see the deity on this day, they would be cleansed of all of their sins. Lacs of devotees visit the temple on the occasion.The great epic, ‘Skandha Purana’ mentions that King Indradyumna arranged this ceremony for the first time when the idols of the deities were first installed.On the eve of the Snana Yatra (which means the Bathing festival) the idols of the deities are brought out in a grand procession from the Sanctum Sanctorum (Garbha Gruha) to the Snana Bedi (bathing platform). Devotees come to view the deities. On the day of the Snana Yatra, the deities are bathed with 108 pots, made of gold, of ritually purified water drawn from the northern well of the temple to the accompaniment of religious incantations. In the evening, at the conclusion of the bathing ritual, Jagannath and Balabhadra are dressed up in elephant headgear representing the Bighneshwar i.e. Lord Shri Ganesh. This form of the God is called the ‘Gajavesha’. After the Snana Yatra the Gods are traditionally believed to fall ill and are kept in a sick room to recuperate in privacy under the care of the Raj Vaidya, The Royal Physician of the King of Puri.It is said that with the traditional ayurvedic medication administered by the Raj Vaidya the Gods recover within a fortnight and resume giving an audience to their devotees. May Lord Jagannath pour His Blessings on our state. Jaya Jagannath.