Odisha: Puri witnesses huge influx of devotees on 'Suna Besha'

Bhubaneswar, July 6 (IANS) Lakhs of devotees thronged the sacred coastal town of Puri on Sunday to witness the holy siblings - Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra - adorned with gold ornaments, weighing around 208 kilograms.

The huge inflow of pilgrims got a glimpse of the holy triad dazzling with gold ornaments of hundreds of kilograms, which resulted in heavy traffic snarls in and around Puri.

Earlier in the day, the Odisha Police had alerted devotees coming to Puri that the designated parking spots in the city had reached the maximum capacity.

The vehicles carrying pilgrims to Puri are being advised to wait for some hours at Batgaon and Maltipatpur.

“Extremely heavy vehicle inflow from Bhubaneswar towards Puri at present. The present waiting time at Batgaon is around two hours. All devotees are requested to plan their visit accordingly,” informed the Odisha Police.

The Police requested all to follow traffic advisories and cooperate with on-duty police personnel.

The deities will be decorated with gold-made hands, feet, garlands with gold beads of different shapes and styles, golden crown, gold Chakra or discus, silver conch, gold ploughshare and pestle during the special ritual known as in the local Odia language as ‘Suna Besha’ or ‘Rajarajeswar Besha’, or ‘Bada Tadhau Besha’.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had earlier announced that devotees can get the Darsan of the deities from 6.30 pm to 11 pm on Sunday.

‘Suna Besha’ ritual of the holy siblings seated on the chariots started during the reign of Gajapati King Kapilendra Deva, following the request of a prominent servitor of the shrine, ‘Tadhau Karana’ in 1460 CE.

The king who had returned victorious from a war with some Southern Indian rulers donated cartloads of gold, diamonds and other precious ornaments brought with him to the temple.

--IANS

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