Devotees Throng Alarnath Shrine During ‘Anasara’ At Puri Jagannath Temple

Brahmagiri: With the sibling deities retiring to the Anasara Ghara in Shree Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri after having an excess bath on the occasion of Snana Purnima, the devotees thronged  Brahmagiri on Monday for darshan of Lord Alarnath.

After the ceremonial bath on Sunday, the sibling deities Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra are now down with fever and their 15-day-long quarantine period in the Anasara Ghara has begun.

As per legend, the darshan of Lord Alarnath in the attire of Lord Narayan during the Anasara period is equal to the darshan of the Lord Jagannath. Alarnath Temple is located at Brahmagiri, around 25 km from Puri town.

Along with Lord Alarnath, the devotees will also have the darshan of Lord Ananta Basudev in place of Lord Balabhadra and Devi Bhubaneswari in place of Devi Subhadra.

This apart, the idols of Lord Dolagobinda, Lord Nrusingha, Lord Madanmohan, Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Goddess Bhudevi, Goddess Sridevi and the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu are also being worshipped at the Alarnath peeth.

Devotees visiting Alarnath temple also get ‘Mahaprasad’ at the ‘Ananda Bazaar’ here like the one they get in Srimandir in Puri.

In view of the massive footfall of the devotees at Alarnath temple, the Puri district administration has made elaborate arrangements to ensure timely conduct of the rituals of the Lord and the smooth darshan at the shrine.

While barricades have been put up, six platoons of police forces along with senior officers have been deployed to maintain law and order.

Meanwhile, the Daitapati sevayats have begun their secret rituals in the Anasara Ghar to cure the ailing deities.

As the three deities have left the Ratna Simhasan inside the sanctum sanctorum of the 12^th century shrine, the sevayats will worship the replica of the deities made of pati (made of bamboo) on the Ratna Simhasan till the Nabajoubana Darshan of the Lords before the annual Rath Yatra.