Devasnana Purnima, JUN 05, 2020

All You Need To Know About The Sacred Devasnana Purnima!

The Snana Yatra Or Devasnana Purnima is a bathing festival celebrated on the Purnima of the month Jyeshtha. This year it is on the 5th of June, which is today.

This is the first occasion in the year as per the Hindu calendar, when the deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra, Sudarshan, and Madanmohan are brought out from the Jagannath Temple (Puri) and taken in a procession to the Snana Bedi.

This bathing platform is situated to the north-east of Ananda Bazar and beside the outer wall of the temple (called Meghanada Pacheri in the local language).

After some rituals Deities are offered water from 108 kalashas. There the Deities are ceremonially bathed and dressed up in Sada Besha after the bath.

Due to COVID, this year devotees will not be allowed near the Jagannath temple and only servitors, temple administrators, and security forces will attend the yatra. For the devotees, the events and rituals will be broadcast live on television.

In the evening, after the bathing ritual, the Deities assume the special elephant form which is otherwise known as ‘Hati Vesha’.

Lord Jagannath and Lord Balaram will be dressed like elephants and Goddess Subhadra wears a lotus flower vesha.

After Snana Yatra, the deities are supposed to fall ill (fever) and do not return to their pedestal. The Deities are kept in a special sick room called the ‘Ratan Vedi’ inside the temple. They stay away from the public view for a period of 15 days.

During Anasara the Deities are offered only fruits and water mixed with cheese and Dasamula medicines to cure them from fever.

After the yatra, Lord Jagannath is believed to manifest as Alarnath Dev and gets worshipped at the Alarnath temple in Bramhagiri which is 25 kilometers away from Puri.

The deities having been washed during the snana yatra, need repainting.

The Daitas repaint the images with new colors and on the 16th day, the Deities appear in their new forms after coloration, become ready for darshan by the public.

The festival of the first appearance of the Lord Jagannath to his devotees is called ‘Netrotsava’ (festival for the eyes) or ‘Nava Yauvanotsava’ (festival of the ever new youth).

The next day the Lordships head off for their wonderful and majestic Ratha yatra Festival.

This year Netrotsava will be celebrated on 22nd June 2020 and Rath Yatra on 23rd June 2020.