Puri: A day after the glittering Suna Besha when the sibling deities adorned magnificent golden attire, the sacred Adhara Pana ritual will held on three chariots – Nandighosa, Taladhwaja, and Darpadalana —parked on the Grand Road near Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri, on Sunday evening.
Literally translating to “lip juice” (“adhara” meaning lips and “pana” meaning sweet beverage), the ritual is performed on Asadha Sukla Pakhya Dwadashi.
During the ceremony, large terracotta pots filled with a fragrant, 100-litre mixture of milk cream (or chhena), cheese, sugar, ripe bananas, camphor, nutmeg, black pepper, and other aromatic spices are carefully hoisted onto the three massive chariots and strategically placed to reach up to the lips of the deities. Water for the drink is traditionally fetched by Pania Apata Sevakas from a sacred well near Chhauni Matha. Supakaras (cooks) prepare it under strict ritual purity, and designated servitors such as Patribadu, Suarabadu, Garabadu Palia Sevaka, and Pujapanda offer it with due ceremonies, often following Madhyahna Dhupa (noon offering) and Sodasha Upachara Puja (16-fold worship).
Unlike typical temple prasad, devotees are strictly forbidden from consuming Adhara Pana. Instead, once the ritual offering concludes, servitors deliberately shatter the giant earthenware pots directly on the chariots. This act is believed to quench the thirst of ‘Rath Rakhyak’ or guardian deities, Parswa Devatas, invisible celestial attendants, spirits, and other beings who accompanied the divine siblings throughout Rath Yatra journey, seeking blessings and liberation.
The pots themselves are crafted with great reverence by skilled potters from Kumbharpada. The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration, along with authorities from Raghab Das Mutt and Bada Odia Mutt, sources them from local artisans who use three sacks of finely filtered soil and one sack of sand. The process, which begins well in advance and takes at least a month, involves meticulous cleaning, shaping, sun-drying, and baking to achieve pots around four feet in height and circumference. Potters observe strict hygiene, dietary restrictions, and traditions—women are not allowed to touch the pots—ensuring sanctity. While 12 pots were used in earlier times, the ritual now employs nine
The ceremony paves the way for the final Niladri Bije ritual, when the deities return to the sanctum sanctorum of the 12th-century shrine, bringing an end to the nine-day annual sojourn.
