[Watch] Puri Jagannath & Siblings To Be decked Up In Padma Besha

Puri: The deities, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, will give darshan to the devotees in their Padma Besha (lotus attire) on Wednesday.

The annual ritual of Lord Jagannath and his siblings will be held around 7 pm on the Ratna Singhasana in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

Basanta Kumar Rana, main artisan for the Padma Besha, said work for ritual begins on Pandu Purnima and takes about one and half month for completion of the lotus designs. Singhari sevaks dress the Srimandir deities in the Lotus attire, said Rana.

A set of servitors, about seven of them, makes Badachata Mutt  their homes and stay there till work on the costumes is completed and sent to Srimandir for the ritual.

The lotus, made of thermocol, will be fixed to the legs of the deities in the midnight. the servitors also prepared Srimukha, Karapallav, Nabhipadma and Hansa for the ritual while tulsi and marigold garlands too have been completed, said Satyanarayan Behere, one of the artisans engaged in the work.

For the ritual, Padma Pokhari (lotus pond) is created in front of the Ratna Singhasan and the deities will remain dressed up in the Besha, all through the night. The divine siblings go to sleep in the besha and devotees get to see them in the attire after the Mangala Alati the next morning.

According to Rana, Padma Besha is performed on any Wednesday or Saturday between the new moon day of Odia calendar month of Magha and Basanta Panchami (Saraswati Puja).

The legend has it that, a great saint devotee of Lord Jagannath Manohar Das desired to offer lotus flower at the feet of the deity in winter. From this day the Padma is used for the decoration of deities.

A special type of pudding, Padma Khiri, is offered to deities on this day.