Puri: Navami Sandhya Darshan of Lord Jagannath & His siblings at Adapa Mandap inside Gundicha Temple in Odisha’s Puri town will be allowed only till 5 pm on June 27 in view of preparations for Bahuda Yatra, SJTA chief administrator Ranjan Kumar Das informed on Saturday.
The darshan timing will be from 7 am to 5 pm, he added.
Daitapati Nijog secretary Ramkrushna Dasmohapatra requested devotees to arrive before 5 pm for darshan of the deities.
Devotees in large numbers have been visiting Gundicha Temple every day to offer prayers to the deities and consume the Adapa Abadha (mahaprasad). As per belief, anyone offering prayers to the deities on Adapa Mandap (in the sanctum sanctorum of Gundicha temple atop the Ratnasimhasan) gets freed from cycle of rebirth.
Puri SP Vishal Singh said that all arrangements have been made for smooth darshan of the deities, who are on their annual sojourn. “Devotees have turned up in large numbers today and barricading have been made accordingly. Rope and dynamic barricading will be done if needed to accommodate the swelling number of devotees. Extra forces have been deployed at the entrances to the temple,” he said.
Singh further said that the arrangements are fully devotee-oriented with special emphasis on the convenience of specially-abled and senior citizens. A brigade of local volunteers, namely Yuva Shakti, are also assisting police and helping the elderly to negotiate the crowd and facilitate their darshan of the deities. “They have helped at least 50 super senior citizens and specially-abled devotees in the last two days. Our personnel, who are on duty at the Gundicha Temple, have also been helping senior citizens to have smooth darshan,” he said.
The SP added that preparation and stimulation for Dhakina Moda ritual, which marks the beginning of the preparations for the Bahuda Yatra of the sibling deities to the Srimandir, has been done. It will be held on Sunday.
During the ritual, the chariots parked on Saradhabali in front of Gundicha Temple, facing north since Rath Yatra, are turned towards Jagannath Temple in the south. The chariots are then kept near Nakachana Dwara, the eastern gate of the shrine. After agyaan maala or garland of the consent of the Lords arrives from the Gundicha Temple, the chariot of Goddess Subhadra, Darpadalan, is first turned towards the south. It is followed by Lord Balabhadra’s Taladhwaja and Jagannath’s Nandighosha.
The event is held after ‘Hera Panchami’ ritual, which will conducted this evening.
The Lords will return to Srimandir on June 28 and taken to the sanctum sanctorum with the Niladri Bije ritual on July 1.
