Devotees Witness Suna Besa

Puri: A day after reaching the Lions’ Gate of Srimandir from Srigundicha temple on the occasion of Bahuda Jatra, Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were adorned with the golden attire on their respective chariots on the Grand Road in Odisha’s Puri city on Thursday. However, in view of the heavy crowd, the Shreejagannath administration has extended the Sunabesh darshan till 12:00 am. Lakhs of devotees from across Odisha and outside thronged the Holy City to witness the Suna Besha ritual of the deities. The servitors of the 12th century shrine started decorating the deities with gold ornaments including Sri Hasta (golden hand), Sri Payar (golden feet), Sri Mukuta (golden crown), Sri Mayur Chandrika (golden peacock feather), Sri Kundal (golden earring), Sri Rahurekha (golden aura) and Sri Mala (gold necklace) on their respective chariots soon after the completion of Madhyahna Dhoopa, Mailam and Sandhya Alati and other rituals at around 5 pm. The servitors took more than an hour to decorate the deities with the gold ornaments. They had earlier brought huge quantities of ornaments from Srimandir Ratna Bhandar (temple treasury) amid tight security for the ritual. As per the tradition, Suna Besha ritual of the deities is conducted five times in a year. The deities are adorned with golden attire four times in a year inside the sanctum sanctorum of Srimandir while the ritual is held once on the chariots during the annual Ratha Jatra, said a servitor. It is believed that Suna Besha ritual of the deities was introduced during the reign of Gajapati King Kapilendra Deb in 1460. Kapilendra Deb had donated huge quantities of gold and silver ornaments to Srimandir after conquering several kingdoms during his rule, added the servitor.

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