Lakhs of devotees witness ‘Suna Besha’ of Lord Jagannath in Puri

PURI, Jul 6 : Around 15 lakh devotees on Sunday witnessed Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra’s  ‘Suna Besha’ (golden attire) ritual on chariots parked in front of the 12th-century shrine in Puri amid unprecedented security arrangements.

The servitors decorated the idols with golden attire. The ‘Suna Besha’ started at 4.45 pm, much ahead of the scheduled time of 6.30 pm, an official said.

The sibling deities – Lord Balabhara, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath – wear gold jewellery weighing nearly 208 kg on the occasion of Suna Besha, which is continuing since 1460.

The devotees can witness the Suna Besha on chariots till 11 pm, the official said.

Odisha Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said that around 15 lakh devotees are witnessing the Lord’s ‘Suna Besha’ smoothly abiding by the norms near the chariots. All arrangements are made keeping in view the safety and security of the devotees, he said.

Around 50 people were taken to the district headquarters hospital here after getting minor injuries in the melee of the huge crowd to go near the chariots, an official said.

Hospital sources said that an elderly devotee, identified as Babaji Behera (53) from Pateligaon of Jagatsinghpur district, fell down from Radhaballav Maath after being disturbed by a monkey. He was rushed to SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack and his condition is stated to be serious, a doctor said. A woman was also injured in a road accident in Puri, they said.

In the Suna Besha ritual, the deities are decorated with various types of gold ornaments like gold diadems, locally called ‘Kiriti’, hands and feet made of gold. While Lord Jagannath holds a gold Chakra (disc) in his right hand and a silver conch in his left hand, elder brother Lord Balabhadra wields a golden plough in his left hand, a gold mace in his right hand. Goddess Subhadra also wears different ornaments, the official said.

The Suna Besha, which is also called ‘Bada Tadhau Besha’ in temple terminology, continued in the 12th-century shrine since 1460 since King Kapilendra Deb’s regime. He donated cart loads of gold ornaments to the temple after winning some battles in south India, said Shree Jagannath culture researcher Bhaskar Mishra.

As Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar 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 (store in-charge) bring the gold jewellery laced with invaluable stones and hand it over to Puspalaka and Daitapati servitors for decoration of the deities.

Temple sources said that the deities adorn such golden jewellery at least five times a year. While one such ritual is held outside the temple on chariots during the Rath Yatra, it is held inside during the four other times. The four occasions are Dussehra, Kartika Purnima, Pausa Purnima and Dola Purnima.

Meanwhile, the Odisha Police have deployed around 205 platoons (1 platoon comprise 30 people) of state police personnel apart from 800 jawans of the central armed police force for crowd management and law and order.

In view of the huge flow of devotees to Puri, Odisha DGP Y B Khurania himself is monitoring the crowd management from the Integrated Crowd Control Centre (ICCC) and urged people to follow the advisory.

“Like Rath Yatra and Bahuda Yatra, police are using drones and AI-powered cameras to control crowds and regulate traffic. Adequate parking lots have been created in and around Puri,” Khurania said, adding that there was a “non-stop flow of devotees to Puri since Saturday night.

As the traffic between Bhubaneswar and Puri was huge, the police restricted the movement of visitors at Maltipatpur and Batagaon. “The waiting time at Maltipatpur/Batgaon is more than three hours. Regular alerts are being issued via SMS and social media posts to devotees about the waiting time to assist them in planning their visit accordingly,” the Odisha Police said in a post on X.

It said that LED panels have been installed at Uttara and Pipilli on the National Highway connecting Bhubaneswar and Puri to create awareness among visitors.  (PTI)

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