Puri: Lakhs of devotees thronged the pilgrim town of Puri on Sunday to witness the divine spectacle of Suna Besha as Lord Jagannath and his siblings were adorned with elaborate gold ornaments weighing over 208 kilograms.
A sea of devotees flooded the Grand Road as Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were decorated with golden attire during the special Suna Besha ritual on their respective chariots, an integral part of the annual Rath Yatra festival.
The Suna Besha ritual of the deities, which commenced in the evening, is slated to continue till 11 pm, said the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
A large number of devotees from across the country and abroad hit the seaside pilgrim town to witness the rare and sacred ritual, performed atop the majestic chariots in front of the 12th century shrine.
Undeterred by massive crowd, devotees waded moved with patience for a glimpse of the glittering deities, magnificently decorated with golden hands, feet, crowns, garlands made of gold beads, a golden chakra (discus), a silver conch, gold ploughshare, and a pestle.
The extremely heavy influx of pilgrims led to severe traffic congestion in and around Puri. Earlier in the day, the Odisha Police had issued an advisory warning that all designated parking spaces in the city had reached full capacity. Pilgrims were directed to halt temporarily at Batgaon and Maltipatpur to ease traffic flow.
“Extremely heavy Vehicle inflow from Bhubaneswar towards Puri at present. Present waiting time at Batgaon is around 2 hours. All devotees are requested to plan their visit accordingly,” the state police said in a post on X.
The police further appealed to devotees to adhere to traffic guidelines and cooperate with law enforcement officials deployed across key points.
An extremely high inflow of vehicles is ongoing at Maltipatpur and Batagaon. Currently, the waiting time at Maltipatpur/Batgaon is more than 3 hours. Regular alerts are being issued via SMS and Social Media posts to devotees about the waiting time to assist them in planning their… pic.twitter.com/UJRPR0EgXF
— Odisha Police (@odisha_police) July 6, 2025
The spiritual fervour, combined with the grandeur of the deities’ golden attire, created an electrifying atmosphere along the Grand Road (Bada Danda).
According to temple sources, the deities adorn around 30 different designs of ornaments which include gold, diamond, silver and other precious metals.
Sources said that initially, around 138 designs of ornaments were used during the era of King Kapilendra Deb in 1460. Around 208 kg of gold ornaments are used in the ritual even now.
The priests associated with the Lord’s Suna Besha claimed that the ornament designs used during King Kapilendra Deb, are also in use today. However, they are repaired sometimes by using the gold donated by pilgrims.
The gold ornaments are refurbished every year ahead of the Suna Besha on chariots during Rath Yatra,.
Four other Suna Besha are held inside the temple on the occasion of Vijaya Dasami, Kartika Purnima, Dola Purnima and Pousa Purnima as per Odia almanac. However, these are held inside the Temple.
Lord Jagannath holds a gold Chakra in his right hand and a silver conch in his left hand. Lord Balabhadra wields a golden plough in his left hand, and a gold mace in his right hand. Goddess Subhadra also wears different ornaments, Mohanty said.
The specific servitors known as Palia Puspalak, Bhitarchha Mohapatra, Talichha Mohapatra, Daitapatis, Khuntia and Mekap Sevaks decorate the deities with golden attire. Lakhs of devotees irrespective of caste, creed and religion have a chance for darshan of the Suna Besha on the chariots during evening hours of the Ekadashi, Mohanty said.
As Lord Jagannath’s ‘Ratna Bhadar’ was being repaired by the ASI now, the gold ornaments are currently stored in the temporary strong room after valuables were shifted from the outer chamber of the sacred treasury. Escorted by armed policemen and temple officials, ‘Bhandara Mekap’ servitor bring the gold jewellery laced with invaluable stones and hand it over to Puspalaka and Daitapati servitors for decoration of the deities.
