Malkangiri: The Snana Purnima festival was celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion at various Jagannath temples across the district. At the main Jagannath temple of Malkangiri district headquarters, the rituals commenced early in the morning. After completion of daily rituals, the principal servitors including Binayak Satapathy, Santosh Nanda, Balaraju Panda, Prafulla Panda, Balaraju Padhi, Brajakishore Pal, Madhu Panigrahi, Niranjan Panda, Dibakar Pal, Santosh Dash, Sai Pattnayak, and others, carried the Chaturdha Murtis — Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath, Goddess Subhadra, and Lord Sudarshan — from the sanctum sanctorum to the Snana Mandap through the traditional Pahandi procession.
As per the rituals, the deities were bathed with 108 pitchers of aromatic water, followed by incense offerings (dhoop), lamps (deep), fire rituals (yagna), and aalati. Afterwards, sweets and balya bhoga (child-like offerings) were presented to the deities. Following the public darshan, Adharapana (a special drink offered to the deities) was served to the three main deities.
A massive crowd of devotees gathered at the Snana Mandap for darshan of the deities. Devotees were seen eagerly waiting to receive Adharapana after the divine darshan. The temple committee ensured distribution of prasad and Adharapana to all devotees.
Once the rituals were completed, the deities were again taken in a Pahandi procession to the Anasara Ghar (resting chamber) for observance of Anasara — a period when the deities are not available for public viewing. There, they were ceremoniously reinstalled as per traditional rites.
Throughout the day, kirtan and devotional songs were performed near the temple and Snana Mandap by the Jaya Bajrang Kirtan Group. Similar Snana Purnima celebrations were observed at other Jagannath temples located in Motu, Kalimela, MV-79, Podia, Mathili, Govindapalli, Balimela, and Chitrakonda. Due to favorable weather, hundreds of devotees attended and had darshan of the deities’ Snana Yatra.
To maintain peace and order, appropriate security arrangements were made by the police.